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BALLADS AND SONGS. 



London: 

printed by robson, levey, and franklyn, 

Grei.t New Street and Fetter Lane. 



BALLADS AND SONGS 



DAVID M 



ALLET. 



WLiW) $otes anti Illustrations, 

AND 

A MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR, 

BY 

FREDERICK DINSDALE, Esq. LL.D. F.S.A. 



LONDON: 
BELL AND DALDY, 186 FLEET STREET; 

DEIGHTON, BELL, AND CO., CAMBRIDGE. 
1857. 



■ ^ 



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p t C 



PREFACE. 



Being desirous of making some corrections in an edition of 
Mallet's ballad of Edwin and Emma, which I published eight 
years ago, I have been induced to reprint it, and add to my 
former publication the author's more celebrated ballad of Wil- 
liam and Margaret, and some of his Songs. After much inquiry 
and research, I have been enabled, in the following Memoir of 
Mallet, to correct some of the statements of his former bio- 
graphers, and to give to the world many particulars relating to 
him which have not been hitherto published. 

1857. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

Preface v 

Memoir of David Mallet 1 



BALLADS. 

William and Margaret 69 

Note— Origin of the Ballad 85 

ftppm&tx. 

William and Margaret, as originally printed ... 91 

Various Readings of the Ballad 95 

Critical Notices 101 

Parallel Passages . . 115 

Imitations of William and Margaret 118 

Collections of Poetry containing William and Margaret . 127 

William and Margaret set to Music 129 



Edwin and Emma 149 

The Curate's Letter 161 

Advertisement 163 



Vlll CONTENTS. 

$oies to tf)r ISallaD. 

PAGE 

I. Origin of the Ballad 167 

II. " Far in the windings of a vale" — Ver. i. p. 153. 

Village of Bowes, Castle, and Church .... 171 

III. " There beauteous Emma flourished foir," — Ver. ii. p. 153. 
Kailton Family 179 

IV, " Till Edwin came, the 'pride of swains " — Ver. vi. p. 154. 
Wrightson Family 189 

V. " Denied her sight, he oft behind 

The spreading hawthorn crept," — Ver. xiii. p. 156 . . 219 

VI. " Oft too on Stanemore's wintry waste," — Ver.xiv. p. 156 . 220 

VII. " When, lo! the death-bell smote her ear," — Ver. xxii. p. 158 227 

Note to the Curate's Letter 229 

&ppenoi.r. 

Critical Notices . . 237 

Parallel Passages 245 

Imitations of Edwin and Emma 248 

Editions op Edwin and Emma 253 

Collections of Poetry containing Edwin and Emma . . 264 

The Bowes Tragedy 266 

Bowes Love 274 

Inscription for the Monument of Edwin and Emma . . 276 

Extract from Langhorne's Lines to Simplicity . . . 276 



SONGS. 

Song, to a Scotch Tune, " The Birks of Endermay" . . .279 

Note 282 

Music 283 

Song, to a Scotch Tune, " Mary Scott" 290 

Note 291 

' ' When Britain first, at heaven's command" .... 292 

Music 299 

Song, " A youth, adorned with every art" 307 

Music 309 



CONTENTS. IX 

PAGE 

Song, " The shepherd's plain life" 315 

Song, " Ye woods and ye mountains unknown" .... 317 

Music 319 

Song, u In cooling stream, sweet repose" 320 

Song, " Adieu for a while to the town and its trade" . . . 322 

Music 323 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



PAGE 

Crieff, from the South-west 4 ^ 

dunruchan, prom the east 9 

Facsimile of Autograph Receipt of David Malloch . . 18 ' 

Facsimiles of Autographs 19 

Clifden (in the early part of Last Century) . . .31 

Frederick Prince of "Wales 35 

Facsimile of Autograph of Lucy Mallet .... 36 
Strand-on-the-Green, East View (from an Old Engraving, 

1750) 43 s 

George Street, Hanover Square 44 ^ 

Seal of David Mallet 54 

Facsimile of Autograph of Lucy Elstob . . .59 

Monument in Terrington Church, Yorkshire ... 63 

Monument in Beaconsfield Church, Bucks .... *74 

Facsimiles of Autographs . *81 

Bowes, South-east View . . . . . . . . 171 

Bowes Castle, South-east View 172 

Bowes Church, South-west View „ 175 

Font in Bowes Church .• 176 

Facsimiles of Autographs of Ministers of Bowes, &c. . 176 
The Unicorn Inn, formerly the George Inn . . . .181 

The House now standing on the Site of the King's Head Inn 192 

Bowes Church, North-east View 231 

Monument to Roger Wrightson and Martha Railton . . 232 



MEMOIR OF DAVID MALLET 



MEMOIR OF DAVID MALLET. 



David Mallet, a poet and miscellaneous writer, is said 
to have been, by his original, one of the Macgregors,* a 
clan of which the name was expressly abolished by an Act 
of the Privy Council, dated 3d April 1603, and against 
which a subsequent Act of Council (24th June 1613) and 
an Act of Parliament (1617, ch. xxvi.) were directed ; and 
which again, in the early part of last century, under the 

* ' ' Gregory of whom the family of Buodhradh, or Eoro. ... Of 
Eoro's family are the Mhallicli, so called from their ' large eye-brows/ 
of whom the late David Mallet. . . ." — Douglas' Baronage of Scot- 
land (Edinburgh, 1798), p. 496. 

Two Gaelic origins may be surmised for the surname Malloch : 

1. Mala, Maladh, Malach, sub. fern. 

1. A brow, an eye-brow. 

2. The brow of a hill. 

2. Mallaichte, pret. part. v. Mallaich, cursed, accursed, maledic- 

tus, execratus. 

There is stern significance in the name Malloch assumed by some of 
the outlawed and proscribed Macgregors, provided it be taken from the 
verb Mallaich. The Macgregors were often proud of perilous notoriety. 

See Europ. Mag., vol. xlv. p. 4 ; also Introduction to Bob Boy. In 
Douglas, p. 493, a reference is made to the " History of the Alpinian 
Family, in Latin ; recovered from the Scots College at Paris, by David 
Mallet, Esq." 



4 MEMOIR OF DAVID MALLET. 

conduct of Rob Roy, became formidable and infamous for 
violence and robbery. 

The original name of the poet was Malloch. Accord- 
ing* to statements comparatively recent, he was the son of 
James Malloch,* who kept an inn at Crieff in Perthshire, 

* "Jan. 14, 1797.— Mr. Urban, — In an excursion which I made 
last autumn to visit the place of my nativity, I had an opportunity of 
ascertaining the parentage of the poet Mallet, His father, whose name 
was James Malloch, kept an alehouse in Crieff, a handsome little village 
in the county of Perth, and about fifty- six miles north from Edinburgh. 
Here Mallet was born. During the rebellion in 1715, the village of 
Crieff was burnt by the Highland army, on account of the attachment 
of its inhabitants to the royal cause. The house of James Malloch 
shared the same fate with the rest of the village. Some years ago, the 
descendants of the sufferers received from Government a sum equivalent 
to a certain proportion of the loss which had been sustained. The pro- 
portion which fell to James Malloch's heirs was about 24/. sterling. This 
sum, I believe, was never claimed by any of Mallet's children. 

"Crefensis." 
(Gentleman's Magazine, vol. lxvii. p. 8.) 

' ' Discipline.— 1704. Oct. 29. — The Session being informed of the 
profanation of the Lord's day immediately after Michaelmas, by some 
drunken folks, in James Malloch's house in Crieff, appoint the said 
James, and Beatrix Clerk his wife, to be summoned against Sabbath 
next. 

" 1704. Nov. 6 — After prayer, sederunt, Minister and Elders. 
James Malloch being summoned and called, compeared ; and being in- 
terrogate anent the abuse by some strangers drinking and fighting (as 
was reported) in his house the Sabbath immediately following Michael- 
mas, Answered, that they were drunk before they came into his house ; 
that they only drank three pints of ale ; and when they began to fight 
he put them to the door. He being enquired at if it was in time of Divine 
service they came into his house, and if he himself was hearing sermon 
that day, Declared that it was after Divine service they came into his 
house, but confessed that he himself was not in the kirk that day. He 
was summoned, apud acta, against Sabbath next, and Beatrix Clerk, 
his wife, being summoned, called, and not compearing, they appoint 
her to be cited to the same diet. . . . 

" 1704. Nov. 12. — . . . James Malloch and Beatrix Clerk being 
called, compeared ; and she being interrogate anent the abuse com- 
mitted by some drunken strangers in her house on the Sabbath day after 



MEMOIB OF DAVID MALLET. 

where David is said to have been born, about the year 
1700. His baptism, however, is not found in the registers 
of that parish. Several of the old people in Crieff remem- 
ber to have spoken with those who knew the alleged parents 
of David Malloch. 

Dunblane, also, has been mentioned as the poet's birth- 
place, but without much reason. 

The claim of Foulis Wester rests not on tradition, but 
on recorded evidence, which presents some slight presump- 
tion of its being' his birth-place. The parish register con- 
tains the following entry, among many others, relating* to 
the Malloch family : 

" James Malloch and Beatrice Cock, both in this parish, 
gave up their names, paid their dues, and were proclaimed for 
the first time, in order to marriage, Sab. 25th Oct. 1702, and 
were proclaimed on 1st and 8th Nov. following." 

We have seen already that James Malloch and Beatrix 
Clerk, his wife, were living* at Crieff in 1704. Tradition 
has handed it down that David Mallet was educated 
at Crieff* The Christian name of his father was James, 
according to his own statement, as we shall find in the 



Michaelmas, answered as her husband the last day. Being asked if she 
was hearing sermon that day, replied that she was both forenoon and 
afternoon. They being both rebuked for giving entertainment to the 
folks on the Sabbath day, and promising never to do the like, were dis- 
missed. Closed with prayer." (From the Records of the Kirk-Session of 
Crieff.) 

* It has been stated, on the authority of the late Dr. William Wright, 
physician to the forces under Sir E. Abercromby, that David Malloch . 
and Dow the historian of Hindostan, were both educated at the school 
of Crieff. 



6 



MEMOIR OF DAVID MALLET. 



sequel. The Crieff register does not contain the procla- 
mation of a James Malloch and Beatrix Clerk, nor, indeed, 
any entry relating" to them, except the one above men- 
tioned. The inference, then, is not unreasonable, that the 
two persons proclaimed at Foulis Wester in October and 
November 1702, are identical with those resident in Crieff 
in 1704 ; and that an error has been made in the entry in 
the Crieff register of the surname of the wife of James 
Malloch. 

It may be matter of wonder, that, if these were the 
parents of David Malloch, there are no entries of baptisms 
of their children either at Foulis Wester or Crieff. If they 
had any children born at Foulis Wester, they may have 
neglected to register them : and so also at Crieff. Such 
negligence was not unusual at the period in question, and, 
indeed, is not at the present day. Nor was it confined to 
country villages. In the register for the city of Edin- 
burgh, the baptisms of three of the children of Allan 
Ramsay were omitted. 

The supposition, however, that we have here ascer- 
tained our author's parents, even if he was the eldest son,* 
is invalidated by the record of his age at the time of his 
death, if it be an accurate record. 

It is uncertain how long James Malloch, the innkeeper, 
resided in Crieff; probably till 1715, when that village was 
burnt. 

We now pass to the parish of Muthill. The parish 

* He mentions in his letters one brother who seems to have been 
younger than himself: see Letters xvi. and xvii. This brother ob- 
tained a situation at Greenock, where he was known by the name of 
Malloch. 



MEMOIR OF DAVID MALLET. 7 

registers do not go further back than 1709, and the name 
of Malloch is not found in the registers of baptisms.* At 
this time there is resident at Muthill a farmer of the name 
of Duncan Malloch, who states that his father and grand- 
father were born there. i 

The neighbouring- parish of Monzievaird next presents 
its traditions and records to our notice, which lead us — 
upon grounds not merely plausible, but very probable — to 
the conclusion, that David Malloch the poet was not the 
son of the innkeeper of Crieff, but the son of parents of a 
less humble condition of life. The registers of that parish 
contain no entry concerning our author, but some facts of 
interest may here be mentioned. 

A very aged woman named Ann Malloch, blind with 
age, died in the parish within the last six years. She re- 
peatedly asserted that she had a grand-uncle, who, when 
quite a young man, went to London, travelled abroad, 
wrote a book, and died in England. She also mentioned 
that he rather avoided having any intercourse with his re- 
lations, and that he became a great man.f 

* Search, has also been made, but without success, in the following 
parishes : Auchterarder, Comrie, Dunblane, Dunning, Trinity Gask. 

The name Malloch is rarely found among the gentry of Scotland. 
Among tradesmen and others it occurs in Dunblane, Dunkeld, Edin- 
burgh, Glasgow, and still more frequently in Perth. 

f The tradition of Anne Malloch is confirmed by the information 
contained in the following graphic and very interesting communica- 
tion : 

" Manse of Monzievaird, Crieff, Sept. 6, 1S55. 

" Dear Sir, — Yesterday I had a very unexpected and interesting 
conversation with an old parishioner of mine, who has for years been 
an invalid from the infirmities of age, and whose memory is often gone. 
She was yesterday as collected and acute as any person can be, and 
told me that in her young days she had often heard of David Malloch, 



MEMOIR OF DAVID MALLET, 



This woman's father was Duncan Malloch, a farmer's 
son in the parish. He died about the year 1794. His 



an uncle of the family at Thornhill (the children of James and Matthew), 
who went to London and was a great man, and ' got a vast of money by a 
marriage.' She had heard, too, of his writing books ; and she knew that 
he had kept little or no correspondence with his relations in Scotland. 

" She also mentioned that her mother had often talked of the inti- 
macy that had existed between the Perth family and their vassals at 
Dunruchan — that her mother, when a little girl, had often seen several 
carriages from Drummond Castle in one day at Dunruchan — and that 
when the Perth family came to be in trouble in 1715, all the silver, plate, 
&c. of Drummond Castle were removed to Dunruchan. The younger 
members of the Perth family often resided for weeks at Dunruchan for 
the sake of drinking goats' milk. My informant's mother was servant 
at Thornhill to James, and had therefore excellent opportunity of know- 
ing. My old friend, however, could not say whether she had ever heard 
the name Beatrix except in connection with James's second daughter, 
and seemed confused about this ; but in every other part of her conver- 
sation she was clear and intelligent. James of Dunruchan, and all his 
kindred, were Roman Catholics. He was one of three on the great 
estates of Perth who rode on saddles, that being a dignity not per- 
mitted, or too costly, for others. 

" My informant is blind from age ; is about eighty-five ; has been a 
most industrious woman ; never heard of the alehouse story ; was in- 
dignant at the alleged loyalty of Crieff ; and has heard her mother 
speak often of David, who was a great man in London. All this corro- 
borates very materially the accuracy of my previous communication. 
I find now that James of Thornhill had a son named Matthew, whom, 
my informant distinctly remembers. This makes no difference. She 
has heard her mother speak many a time of the great losses and im- 
poverishment of the Mallochs after they left Dunruchan — they were not 
like the same people. ***** 

" Faithfully yours, 

"W. R. 

" I mentioned to my old friend that I had heard that David, who 
had gone to London, had been a bell-ringer in a school in Edinburgh — 
she remained silent. I repeated the statement, — she turned fretfully 
in bed, and said, ' His father's son would keep a door to no man.' This 
means a great deal in our vernacular." 

On the 20th September 1855, in company with my correspondent, 1 
heard from the mouth of this aged woman, Elizabeth Gow, the sub- 
stance of the story detailed above. 



MEMOIR OF DAVID MALLET. 9 

father was Matthew Malloch, farmer at Thornhill in Mon- 
zievaird, but* he was a native of the adjoining parish of 
Muthill. 

The Mallochs had for many years been settled upon 
the farm of Dunruchan,* on the Perth estate in that parish. 




Dunruchan. 

They were people of great respectability, and of consider- 
able wealth for their station. In 1715, they were con- 
cerned in the raising of the standard of the Chevalier de 
St. George; and again in 1745. On both occasions they 
were great sufferers pecuniarily. About the year 1746, 
when the Perth estate was confiscated, the Mallochs re- 
moved to the farm, of Thornhill. They still had some 
cattle ; but ill fortune fell heavily on them at Thornhill, 

* Dunruchan is about two miles west of Muthill : the name signifies 
the farm-house in the heather. 



10 MEMOIR OF DAVID MALLET. 

and disease wasted in one season all the farm-stock which 
they had saved. When Matthew came to Thornhill, he 
was still accounted a yeoman of substance, and considered 
himself a person of some distinction in the district. He 
was, however, reduced to poverty before he died ; hut he 
never forgot the prerogatives of his better fortune. The 
Earls of Perth had always shown his family much atten- 
tion ; but in 1746 that source of distinction was destroyed. 
Matthew, who left Dunruchan for political reasons, came 
to live, in 1746, with Iris brother James, who was the first 
to settle at Thornhill ; and accordingly, in the Monzievaird 
register, of date Feb. 24, 1751, there is the baptism of 
a child named Beatrix, daughter of James Malloch and 
Janet M'Innes, his wife, in Thornhill. It is conjectured 
that our author was a brother of Matthew and James. 
The name Beatrix, which is rare in Scotland, adds a new 
element of probability to this opinion. If this idea be 
well founded, James Malloch's child was named after his 
mother, a rule which in Scotland is seldom broken, and 
which requires that the second daughter in a family shall 
receive the name of the father's mother. There is reason 
to know that this Beatrix was the second daughter of 
James. 

Dr. Johnson, in his life of our author, says, that " it was 
remarked of him, that he was the only Scot whom Scotch- 
men did not commend." Assuming that we are correct as 
to his parentage and family, there was every reason which 
would induce him to avoid the intimacy of his countrymen. 
It was of the first importance that he should not be known 
as a member of a family of sturdy Jacobites much in the 



MEMOIR OF DAVID MALLET. 1 1 

confidence and service of the Perth family. This also 
gives a clue to the statement of Anne Malloch, that her 
distinguished relative avoided intercourse with his familv. 
Johnson also says : " I never catched Mallet in a Scotch 
accent ;* and yet Mallet, I suppose, was past five-and- 
twenty before he came to London." 

The traditions of all the Mallochs in the parish of 
Monzievaird, as to the close intimacy between James of 
Dunruchanf (the father of Matthew) and the Perth family, 
sufficiently account for the ease of Mallet's deportment, 
and the absence of provincialisms in his conversation. 

Lord Drummond, on whose estate James of Dunruchan 
was a favoured tenant, was attainted in 1716. The con- 
fidential intercourse between the Drummond house and 
their vassals at Dunruchan g'oes far to explain the origin 
of the polite attainments of Mallet even in early fife ; and 
the political sorrows of his family account for his singular 
reserve as to his own history or Scottish affairs. 

In 1733, he describes himself as the son of James 
Malloch, of Perth, " gentleman." 1 That he was able to 



* How different was it in the case of Thomson, the son of a minister. 
He is said to have retained the northern pronunciation throughout his 
life, and indeed to have had a very broad Scotch accent. 

*f- In 1700, it is probable that the Mallochs were Roman Catholics, 
and continued so till 1716. 

£ The Drummond estate, on which James Malloch of Dunruchan 
was tenant, is properly and peculiarly the Perth estate. Lady "Wil- 
loughby de Eresby, who is the present proprietress, styles herself, in any 
formal deed, " Clementina Sarah Drummond, of Perth, Lady WTUoughby 
de Eresby." It was therefore exactly and peculiarly correct in Mallet 
to call himself the son of James Malloch, of Perth. 

Some members of the Drummond family are incidentally mentioned 
by Mallet in his correspondence with Ker. 



12 



MEMOIR OF DAVID MALLET. 



contribute, at least, to his son's support is proved in a 
letter written in the winter of 1723-24 : " I have lost my 
father. He died last month ; and you know my fortune 
hitherto well enough : his death has embarrassed me in all 
respects." If his father's death embarrassed him, so that 
he had to ask a loan of money, it is evident that that event 
had placed him in more straitened circumstances than he 
had been in before. 

To pass from traditions that have reference to Mallet's 
birth and parentage, we will consider the information that 
can be gained from his own statement. In the sequel, we 
shall find that he was 63 when he died, in 1765. He 
could not, then, be the son of James Malloch and Beatrice 
Cock of Foulis Wester. There is no reason for imagining 
that he was ignorant of the actual date of his birth ; and 
though his declaration on entering the University of Oxford 
would give a later date than 1702 as the time of his birth, 
yet the record of his age ought fairly to outweigh a state- 
ment made, it might be, to avoid some difficulty in being- 
admitted, or from a foolish affectation about concealing his 
real age. 

It is not stated in any notice of our author, either in 
his lifetime* or afterwards, down to 1780, that he was 
the son of an innkeeper. Davies,f who was likely to be 
acquainted with him, and Dr. Johnson, who admits that 
he had a very slight personal knowledge of him, are both 
silent as to his birth-place and parentage. Dr. Anderson, 

* See List of Dramatic Authors, 1747 ; Play-House Companion, 1764, 
&c. &c. 

t Life of David Garrick, 1780. 




MEMOIR OF DAVID MALLET. 13 

his most copious biographer, says (1794) only that "it is 
probable he was a native of Perthshire.' 1 

Tradition, moreover, says nothing- of the poet in con- 
nection with an innkeeper. 

There is no reason to doubt that the names of the 
parents of the poet were James and Beatrix. That Bea- 
trix was the name of the wife of James of Dunruchan, dif- 
ferent members of the family have asserted ; and this is 
very materially corroborated by the name of the second 
grand- daughter. James and Beatrix here mentioned were 
settled at Dunruchan long- before and after 1702. 

The statements in the letter of Crefensis are very 
improbable, and it does not appear that they rest on any 
good foundation. 

Passing from the consideration of the parentage of our 
author, it may be observed, that his having been at Crieff 
school, when taught by Ker, is in no way inconsistent with 
the Dunruchan connection. The distance of Crieff from 
Dunruchan is but about four miles and a half, "and the 
parish school of Crieff was at that time the nearest to 
Dunruchan. 

One cause of the great difficulty in searching records, 
and identifying- parties in this part of Scotland, arises 
mainly from the various names which the same parties 
have at different times or in different places assumed; 
and this, too, not merely for the purpose of evading justice 
by the help of an alias, but from Highland pride and 
etiquette. The uncertainty about these matters was the 
more remarkable in the case of the Macgregors, as in 
some instances the name varied with each generation. 



14 MEMOIR OF DAVID MALLET. 

Lastly, it may be remarked, that the Roman Catholi- 
cism of the Mallochs quite accounts for the absence of 
entries in official records. 

Of David Mallet's early years we have but scanty 
and discordant memorials.* He is said to have received 
some part of his early education under Mr. John Ker,f his 
earliest patron ; but at what place is uncertain. 

While Mr. Ker was one of the teachers at the High 
School of Edinburg-h, Mallet, it is said, was employed for 
six months, in 1717, as the Janitor of that Institution. 

* According to Mr. Lumesden, Mallet was the son of a country car- 
rier, who, having mentioned to Mr. Home, the town-clerk of Leith, that 
he had a sharp boy whom he wanted to educate, Mr. Home desired him 
to send the boy to town. Mr. Home sent him to the High School, 
where he was noticed by Mr. Paterson, one of the masters ; and he had 
afterwards a bursary at the College of Edinburgh. 

See Letter i. Europ. Mag. xxiii. 338. It does not appear that 
Mallet had a bursary. 

An account of Mallet's early life is contained in several letters ad- 
dressed by him to Professor Ker. See Europ. Mag. vol. xxiii. pp. 338, 
412 ; vol. xxiv. pp. 22, 87, 174, 257, 341 ; vol. xxv. pp. 6, 99 ; also Edin- 
burgh Mag. (new series), 1793. It appears doubtful whether these 
letters are printed in proper order, and with correct dates. Three of 
them are printed in the Morning Herald, Aug. 8 and 9, 1793. This 
correspondence, in eighteen letters, extends from Oct. 5, 1720, to July 
31, 1727. The letters were, when first published, in the possession of 
James Drummond, Esq. The remaining part of the correspondence 
was in the possession of Professor Ker's brother, who went to the West 
Indies, and was supposed to be lost. 

f See Letters i. and ii. Europ. Mag. xxiii. pp. 338, 339. Ker began 
his career as parochial schoolmaster at Dunblane ; and afterwards, in 
August 1701, became master of the Parish-school of Crieff. (See 
Eecords of the Kirk Session of Crieff, Aug. 17, 1701.) He was elected, 
March 25, 1713, one of the classical masters of the High School of Edin- 
burgh ; and was appointed, Dec. 4, 1717, to the professorship of Greek 
in King's College, Aberdeen. After holding that office for seventeen 
years, he was elected Professor of Humanity in the University of Edin- 
burgh on the 2d Oct. 1734. He died Nov. 19, 1741. 






MEMOIR OF DAVID MALLET. 15 

This fact, as asserted by Dr. Johnson, and previously by 
Davies, the biographer of Garrick, though apparently 
established by recent inquiries,* is still controverted. 

It is certain that a person of the name of David 
Malloch held the office ; and in favour of this person being 
the embryo poet, who was then about fifteen or sixteen, 
it is urged that several young men held the office as late 
as 1720 or 1725, employing porters, or female servants, as 
their deputies in the drudgery part of their work. On 
the other hand it is contended that the probability is 
against the appointment of a mere boy; and that as it was 
the duty of the Janitor to ring the bell for assembling the 
scholars, clean tfye class-rooms, and do menial offices, it 
was most improbable that he should be at the same time 
a student of the High School of Edinburgh, which was the 
resort of the sons of noblemen and persons of wealth and 
distinction : that, in 1794, when Dr. Anderson wrote the 
life of the poet, though many persons were living whose 
fathers had been educated at the High School between 
1710 and 1730, yet no trace or tradition of such a Janitor 
existed. " Tradition," observes Dr. Anderson, " is silent 
concerning it, and immemorial usage is against the sup- 
position of his eligibility for such an office." It is further 
argued that this assertion originated with Dr. Johnson 
and his friends, who, from a dislike to Mallet, would be 
very ready to receive any gossiping story about him : that 
Boswell would know that such a name had been in the 
list of Janitors, and would be quite ready to give cur- 
rency to the allegation, which was not so likely to be 

* See Steven's History of the High School of Edinburgh, p. S9. 
The school existing in Mallet's time is represented at p. 14. 



16 MEMOIR OF DAVID MALLET. 

openly contradicted by Mallet, who for other reasons was 
reserved about his early life. 

It is insisted that there is no direct evidence that the 
story was ever told in Mallet's lifetime., or was known to 
any of his friends who might have inquired into its truth : 
that when the story was published, nearly twenty years 
after Mallet's death, there was no friend left behind him 
who would take the trouble to examine into the truth of 
it; and from his kindred he had notoriously estranged 
himself. Would such a man as Mallet was, it is asked, 
have written the following paragraph, had he ever in his 
life been a bell-ringer, though some men under similar cir- 
cumstances might have done so ? 

" A Prelate, &c. 
Tho' 'twas the Doctor preach'd, — / toll'd the hell." 
Verbal Criticism, line 97. 

To the several objections here raised it may be replied, 
that in the argument as to immemorial usage there is a 
confusion of time : that tradition is not wanting, inasmuch 
as William Eraser, Dux of the High School in 1766, has 
stated* that the Janitor at that time alluded to the poet 
having held the office, and that, in his early boyhood, his 
(Fraser's) father had spoken to him of its being a settled 
point that the poet had been Janitor. 

It is beyond a doubt that Boswell entertained an un- 
friendly feeling towards Mallet. This was exhibited in 
1763, but two years before the poet's death. 

On May 16th in that year Boswell became acquainted 
with Dr. Johnson, and a few weeks after, when in John- 
son's company, he mentions Mallet's Elvira, and that he 

* To Dr. Steven, the historian of the High School of Edinburgh. 



^ 



MEMOIR OF DAVID MALLET. 17 

and two others had joined in writing a pamphlet against 
it. On this occasion he might speak of Mallet's early 
years, and the High School of Edinburgh. It will not, 
however, be readily believed that Boswell would distort a 
fact within his knowledge, to throw slight and disparage- 
ment even on one whom as a critic he had attacked. It 
would be an insult to the memory of the great moralist 
to harbour the most vague suspicion that he would wan- 
tonly give currency to an allegation unless he were satisfied 
that it rested on a good foundation. 

In corroboration of this fact further evidence is at hand. 
Davies in his account of our author, published nine or ten 
months before the life by Johnson, states that Mallet was, 
when very young, Janitor of the High School of Edin- 
burgh. Now this is a special mention of the fact which 
a mere inspection of the document to be noticed presently 
would not authorise. Davies, however, had peculiar faci- 
lities of obtaining accurate knowledge on this subject. In 
1728 and 1729 he was at the University of Edinburgh 
completing his education. He was afterwards in London 
at the Hay market Theatre (1736), and eventually, after 
some absence, returned to London on an engagement at 
Drury Lane Theatre in 1753. From his connection with 
that theatre he probably had some personal knowledge of 
our author. 

Lastly, there can be furnished in addition documentary 
evidence, as it appears, of a character convincing and con- 
clusive. In the custody of the Chamberlain of the City 
of Edinburgh are several receipts or discharges by those 
who have been Janitors of the High School. Amongst 

c 



18 MEMOIR OF DAVID MALLET. 

them is one signed : 

It bears date Feb. 5, 1718, and is a discharge for the 
sum of 16s. 8d., being his full salary for the preceding 
half year. That was the exact period he held the office. 
The whole of the document, together with the indorsement, 
is obviously written by one person. The handwriting in 
its stiffness and want of freedom is that of a boy. The 
back of the document shows that after writing a few letters 
of the first word of the receipt, for some reason, he stopped 
and begun again on the other side of the paper. 

" Received by me David Malloch present Janitor of the 
High School of Edinburgh from Mr Robert Wightman present 
thesaurer of the Said burgh the Sum of ten pounds Scots money 
as an half years Aliment due to me from lambas I m VII C seven- 
teen years to Candlemass last by past I ra VII C eigteen years And 
therefore I exoner and discharge the sd Mr Robert Wightman 
thesaurer forsaid of the sd ten pounds Scots as the half years 
Aliment forsaid for now and ever Which discharge I oblidge 
me to warrant att all hands & against all deadly as law will 
.... In witness whereof I have writen & Subscrived thir 
presents att Edinburgh the fifth day of Feberwary I m VII C and 
eighteen years David Malloch. 

[Indorsement.] 

Discharge 

.... David Malloch 

to 

Mr Robert 

Wightman 

1718" 



flFrom lh& Albwruof ^dwUnLversiby of EdmbwgJi . 1721 .) 



(Itotti flwAUbwnry 17 22.) 



2f: ^U£eS. 



(From. Letter hi AaroruSW., Sep r 29. 1731 .) 





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( From/LeJUr Lo A.MMwll, Esq™") 






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(Irom Ms Will 17 55.) 



1 — ' ; >** 



MEMOIR OF DAVID MALLET. 19 

If David Mallet the Poet was the Janitor in question 
he was so when very young. That he was Janitor we 
have further proof of a decisive character. 

A comparison of the signature of the receipt with the 
Poet's signature in 1721, 1722, and in later periods of 
his life, and a further comparison of the handwriting of 
the receipt itself with the letters of Mallet still preserved, 
and also with his will, leave no doubt that the assertion 
of Davies and Dr. Johnson rests on well-tested informa- 
tion. 

It does not appear that Mallet was ever a student at 
Aberdeen, as has been stated. 

In 1720 he resided in the family of Mr. Home, of 
Dreghorne, near Edinburgh, as tutor to his children, 
though without a fixed salary, and at the same time prose- 
cuted his studies at the University of Edinburgh.* 

One of his first compositions was a Pastoral, published 
in the Edinburgh Miscellany. f In the year 1721 he gave 
a poetical version, from the Latin, of a Congratulatory 
Poem, written by Mr. Ker. In the same year he wrote 



* The following are entries of his name in the album or book of 
enrolments : 

< < 31 Martii 1721. Da. Malloch. 
Discip. D. Gul. Scot. 
30 Martii 1722. Dav. Malloch. 
Discip. D. Colins Drummond." 

f See Letter i. Europ. Mag. xxiii. p. 338. Edinbro' Miscellany, 
1720, p. 223. This Pastoral is stated to be "By a Youth in his fif- 
teenth year." Two other small poems, "by the same Hand," follow 
it. To the last the initials "D. M." are subscribed. At p. 259 is 
another poem, " ' Epithalamium on the Marriage of a Friend,' by a 
Boy in his fifteenth year." To this also the initials " D. M." are sub- 
scribed. 



20 MEMOIK OF DAVID MALLET. 



a poem on The Transfiguration, in imitation of Milton's 
style.* 

He was now rising into reputation, and easily obtained 
the acquaintance of Thomson, his fellow-collegian, with 
whom he was destined to be more intimately connected ; 
of Paterson, the translator of Pater cuius ; Malcolm, author 
of the Treatise on Music; and Murdoch; and seems to 
have been particularly noticed by Eamsay and Hamilton. 
In 1723,f the Duke of Montrose having 1 inquired among 
the professors for a tutor to educate his sons, % Mallet was 
recommended. " It is scarcely necessary to say," remarks 
one of his biographers, " that only the greatest merit could 
have procured for a youth of humble parentage so distin- 
guished a preference over the rest of his fellow- students." 
His salary was 30/. per annum. In August of the same 
year he took his departure from Scotland for London, and 

* See Letter iii. Europ. Mag. xxiii. p. 413. This poem is not in 
Mallet's works. It is printed in the Europ. Mag. xxv. p. 52. Edin- 
burgh Mag. (new series), ii. p. 339. Anderson's Poets, vol. ix. p. 710. 

f See Letter vi. Europ. Mag. xxiv. 23. 

X The third and fourth sons of the first Duke. His eldest son, 
James, died in his infancy. David, the second son, died in 1731. In a 
letter from Mallet to Aaron Hill, Sept. 29 [1731], addressed from Clye, 
he mentions his approaching death. William, the third son, succeeded 
as second Duke in 1712, and died in 1790. George, the fourth son, 
died in 1747. See Aaron Hill's Works, 1754, vol. ii. p. 245 ; also 
vol. iii. pp. 367-370. 

To Lord George Graham, on his Action, near Ostend, on tlie 
24th June 1745. 
***** 
" Oh, Mallet, this was he — sweet heav'n-fac'd boy ! 
Thy friend congratulates thy conscious joy : 
Pride of thy care, thou led'st his earliest youth, 
To court plain glory, white as robeless truth : — " 



MEMOIK OF DAVID MALLET. 21 

proceeded from thence to Shawford, near Winchester, 
where the Duke of Montrose then resided. In December 
his father died.* Shortly afterwards he came to town 
with his pupils. His first production in England was the 
celebrated ballad of William and Margaret, published in 
July 1724.f 

A letter to Mr. Ker, dated Shawford, September 15, 
17 24,3: has the following postscript: 

" P.S. My cousin Mr. Paton would have me write my 
name Mallet, for there is not one Englishman that can 
pronounce it." 

The first time that the name of Mallet is met with 
is in 1726, in a list of the subscribers to Savage's Miscel- 
lanies. He continued, however, to write his name Malloch 
down to the year 1728,§ and probably some time longer. 

In 1725 he wrote a poem in imitation of Ker's 
Donaides.\\ This was afterwards published in his works, 

* See Letter viii. Europ. Mag. p. xxiv. 87. 

+ See Letter xi. Europ. Mag. xxiv. p. 175. Davies' Life of Garrick, 
1780, vol. ii. p. 28. 

X The date of this letter seeing to be incorrect. The letter was 
probably written in 1725. 

§ Prefixed to the second edition (in 8vo) of Thomson's Winter is 
a copy of verses signed " David Malloch." See Letter xviii. Europ. 
Mag. xxv. p. 100. Boswell's Life of Johnson, vol. viii. p. 212. London, 
1835, 10 vols. The Dedication of Winter prefixed to the first edition, 
was written by Mallet. In the list of subscribers to Dennis' Miscel- 
laneous Tracts, 1727, we find "Mr. David Malloch." In the list of 
subscribers to Thomson's Seasons (4to), London, 1730, we find "Mr. 
Mallett." The name of '-' David Mallett, Esq." appears in the list of 
subscribers to Thomson's Orpheus Caledonius, 2 vols, second edition, 
1733, and to Aaron Hill's Works, 4 vols. 1754. 

|| It is subjoined to the Donaides, Edinburgh, 1725, and occupies 
four pages quarto, "by David Malloch, A.M." See Gough's Topo- 
graphy, vol. ii. 647. It is printed in Edinburgh Mag. (new series), 
1793. 



22 MEMOIR OF DAVID MALLET. 

with several alterations, as Verses occasioned by Dr. 
Frazer's rebuilding 'part of the University of Aberdeen.* 

In the same year, at the request of Mr. Ker, Malloch 
translated his Latin verses on the death of Sir William 
Scott.f 

Towards the close of 1725, it seems probable that an 
offer was made by the University of Aberdeen to confer 
on our author the degree of M.A. Some intimation to 
that purport might be conveyed to him by Professor Ker, 
to whom in one of his letters Mallet thus writes : — " I never 
took any degree at Edinburgh, nor ever asked for any: 
when your society bestows that honour upon me, I will 
return them my thanks in a letter addressed to the 
whole body." J 

The following appears in the Records of the University 
and King's College, Aberdeen : 

« llth January 1726. 
" The Masters having formerly seen and appro ven an English 
Poem, written by Mr. David Malloch, tutor to the Puke of 
Montrose's sons, in imitation of the Donaides, and having 
ordered the same to be published therewith, they, as a mark 
of esteem and respect, unanimously agreed that a diploma shall 
be sent to him, conferring on him the degree of Master of 
Arts."§ 

At this early period of our author's career it cannot be 
uninteresting to notice the terms in which he is mentioned 
by his distinguished friend and countryman Thomson. In 

* See Boswell's Life of Johnson, vol. viii. 212. 

*T See Letter xv. Europ. Mag-, xxiv. 342. 

t Letter xv. Europ. Mag. vol. xxiv. 343. 

§ Fasti Aberdonenses, Spalding Club Pub. 1854, p. 445. 



MEMOIR OF DAVID MALLET. 23 

the preface to his Winter, 1726, Thomson thus writes : 
" It perhaps might be reckoned vanity in me to say how 
richly I value the approbation of a gentleman of Mr. Mai- 
loch's fine and exact taste ; so justly dear and valuable to 
all those that have the happiness of knowing' him; and 
who, to say no more of him, will abundantly make good 
to the world the early promise his admired piece of Wil- 
liam and Margaret has given." 

In the early part of 1727, along with his noble pupils, 
he made the tour of Europe ; and on his return, from the 
influence of the noble family in which he resided, and his 
poetical reputation, he was admitted to association with the 
first characters of the age, whether for dignity of rank 
or eminence for ability; amongst whom were Frederick 
Prince of Wales, Lyttelton, Chesterfield, Bolingbroke, 
Pope, and Young. In 1728 he published his poem, The 
Excursion* in two cantos. " It is not," remarks Dr. 
Johnson, " devoid of poetical spirit. Many of the images 
are striking, and many of the paragraphs are elegant." 
In 1731 his tragedy of Eurydice was performed with 
great successf at Drury Lane.J The Prologue and Epi- 
logue were written by Aaron Hill. 

* The Excursion, a Poem ; in two books. London, 1728, 8vo. 
" Lately printed, The Excursion, a Poem : to which is added William 
and Margaret, a Ballad, noio first printed from the author's copy." The 
Daily Courant, London, Feb. 22, 1729. See Letter xvi. Europ. Mag. 
xxv. 6. 

" Eapt I foresee thy Mallet's early aim 
Shine in full worth, and shoot at length to fame." 

Savage, The Wanderer, canto i. 327. 
f See A Compleat List of all the- English Dramatic Poets, 1747 ; 
Play-House Companion, 1764, vol. i. ; Eurydice. 

% Feb. 22, 1731 ; acted about thirteen times. 1731, Nov., is the 



24 



MEMOIR OF DAVID MALLET. 



Mallet continued with the Montrose family up to ahout 
the end of 1731, and was occasionally at the two country 
seats of the Duke, Shawford near Winchester, and Clye 
near Swaffham, Norfolk. To the latter place we find 
letters addressed to him in September and as late as 
December in 1731. After a connection of above eight 
years, Mallet left the Montrose family for that of Mr. 
Knight at Gosfield.* This new engagement seems to 
have been entered upon some time before he left the 
Montrose family. In a letter from Pope to John Knight, 
Esq., dated August 23, 1731, there is a reference to Mallet. 
He and his pupil, the son of Mrs. Knight, subsequently 



date of the dedication to the Duke of Montrose. It was revived at 
Drury Lane, March 3, 1759, and acted four times. See Aaron Hill's 
Works, second edition, 1754, vol. i. pp. 84, 97. Davies' Life of GarricJc, 
1780, vol. ii. 29. Biographia Dramatica, vol. ii. 110. 



" Time required for acting Eurydice: 


H. 


M. 




" Act i. 





20 




,, ii. . 





20 




„ iii. . 





25 




,, iv. . 





15 




,, v. . 





16 




Whole play . 


1 


36 




t iii. ends 19 min. after 7- Play over 


3 min. 


after 8." 


Dramatic 



Time-piece, 1767. 

The tragedy gave rise to a pamphlet entitled, " Remarks on the 
Tragedy of Eurydice, in which it is endeavoured to prove the said 
tragedy is wrote in favour of the Pretender," 8vo, 1731. 

* " Pope procured him the situation of travelling tutor to the son 
of his friend and correspondent, Mrs. Newsham ; an office of five years' 
continuance, spent in travelling abroad with profit and without ex- 
pense." Cunningham's Johnson's Lives of the Poets, vol. iii. p 364. Mrs. 
Newsham married secondly John Knight, Esq,, who died in 1733, Oct. 2. 
On the 23d March 1736 Mrs. Knight was married to Robert Nugent, Esq. 



MEMOIR OF DAVID MALLET. 25 

travelled abroad.* In a letter from Pope to Mrs. Knight f 
(then a second time a widow), dated August 5, 1734, is 
the following- passage : — " I wish Mr. Newsham all that 
you wish him to have, and to he. Where is he and Mr. 
Mallet?" In a subsequent letter, dated Sept. 1, 1734, 
Pope thus writes : — " ... I had the most entertaining" 
letter imaginable from Mr. Mallet, from Wales. . . . 
Believe me, without more words, yours. First, the post 
told you so, when I had no other messenger, then HarteJ, 
had a line to tell you so, and now Mr. Newsham." From 
the beginning* and the close of this letter, it appears to have 
been taken by Mr. Newsham to his mother from Pope. 

At this time, then, it seems that Mallet and his pupil 
were not together ; but his connection with the family had 
not ceased, as we find from a letter of Pope to Mrs. Knight, 
dated Nov. 25, 1735 :" . . . . To prove to you how 
little essential to friendship I hold letter-writing, after the 
experience of thirty years (for so long Mr. Cmil tells you 
I kept a regular correspondence), I have not yet written to 
Mr. Mallet, whom I love and esteem greatly, nay, whom I 
know to have as tender a heart, and that feels a remem- 
brance as long as any man. Pray send him the enclosed. . ." 

From this we find that he and his pupil were again 
together. In a later letter to the same lady (then Mrs. 

* See Letter from Mallet to Pope, written from Openheim and Han- 
over, where he and his pupil were. Gentleman's Mag. (new series), 
vol. iv. 374 ; Oct. 1835. 

f See bust and portrait of this lady in Bowles' edition of Pope, 
vol. x. pp. 97, 117. 

t See Lines by Savage, on " Harte, Vice-Principal of St. Mary Hall 
Oxford, being presented by Mrs. Knight to the living of Godsfield in 
Essex." Johnson's English Poets, vol. xli. p. 280. 



26 MEMOIR OF DAVID MALLET. 

Nug-ent) 7 dated Sept. 6, 1736, Pope thus writes : u . . . I 
foresee Mr. Newsham's return is approaching. I doubt 
not he will bring' you back the completion of your happi- 
ness ; and if he does, I must say you will owe something 
to Mr. Mallet, in not only restoring you a son as good as 
he carried him out (which few tutors do), but in a great 
degree making and building up, as well as strengthen- 
ing and improving, what is the greatest work man or 
woman ought to be proud of, a worthy mind and sound 
body " 

We see, then, that Mallet's connection with this family 
continued for a period of five years, though at certain in- 
tervals his pupil was not with him. 

The premature death of his friend Mr. Aikman, in 1731, 
called forth from Mallet a touching epitaph,* which was 
engraven on the tomb of Aikman and his son in the Grey 
Friars' Churchyard, Edinburgh. In 1733 (April) he pub- 
lished his poem on Verbal Criticism^ designed to pay 
court to Pope. 

In the same year, Nov. 2, at the same time as his pupil 

* See letter from Aaron Hill to Mallet, Oct. 2, 1731, A. Hill's Works, 
vol. i. 136 : " It is elegantly comprehensive, and significantly mournful, 
and has a melancholy strength of tenderness running every where thro' 
it." It is commended also by Pope. See Europ. Mag. xxxv. 175. 

+ See London Mag. vol. ii. 220, 313. Pope's Letter to Eichardson, 
Bowles' Ed. of Pope, viii. 283 ; Roscoe's do. viii. 552. 

The poetic character of Shakespeare is admirably portrayed in this 
poem : 

" Pride of his own, and wonder of this age, 
Who first created, and yet rules the stage, 
Bold to design, all-powerful to express, 
Shakespeare each passion drew in every dress : 
Great above rule, and imitating none ; 
Rich without borrowing, nature was his own." 



MEMOIR OF DAVID MALLET. 27 

Mr. Newsham,* he was matriculated as a member of St. 
Mary Hall,f Oxford. He represented himself as the son of 
James Malloch of Perth, gentleman, and stated his age to 
be twenty-eight on his last birthday. He entered as a 
gentleman commoner. J 

In the early part of 1734 he renewed his connection 
with the University of Edinburgh, as will be seen from 
the following document, extracted from the minutes of the 
Senate of that University. 

* James, son of John Newsham, Esq. of Chadshunt, Warwickshire, 
born Oct. 7, 1715, baptised Oct. 9. 

" 1733. Nov. 1. Jacobus Newsam admissus est super ord. Comens." 
(St. Mary Hall Buttery Book.) 

" 1733. Aul. B.M. Nov. 2. Jacobus Newsam, 18, Johannis de Chads- 
hunt, Warwick, Arm. fil." (Matriculation Register.) The name (some- 
times entered "Newsham") does not occur after March 173| in the Hall 
Books, and it does not appear that he ever proceeded to a degree. 

In 1736 (July 14), there was also matriculated, as of St. Mary Hall, 
Jacobus Newsham, 19, fil. Edv. N. de civ. Lond. gen. In the Hall 
Books, on March 17, 1738, we find Mr. Newsam, the gentleman com- 
moner, mentioned as entering on Nov. 1, 1733, and the commoner News- 
ham, in the same page. The latter became B.A. on June 10, 1740. 

f See a view of St. Mary Hall, in IjoggensOxonia Illustrata (1675), 
Plate xxxvii. Delices de la Grande Bretagne et de I'Irlande, par 
Beeverel, 1st edition, Leide, 1707 ; 2d edition (1727), vol. iii. p. 641 ; 
and Williams' Oxonia Depicta (1732-3), Plate lxii. 

J His name first appears on the fifth week of the first quarter, com- 
mencing Oct. 26, 1733, from which day he battelled till the last week in 
the quarter, when he probably left Oxford for the vacation. He seems 
to have returned on 9th January 1734, and to have remained till the 
4th February. On the 17th, he was again battelling in hall, and con- 
tinued doing so till April 10. His name disappears for a week, occurs 
again in the accounts April 17, and goes on regularly till May 16 ; May 
17, absent ; and so till May 24, when he re-appears, and remains till 
June 25. Absent during the whole of the long vacation ; returns Sept. 2, 
and resides till Sept. 17 ; between which time and Sept. 27 he removes 
his name altogether. The College accounts afford some reason for be- 
lieving that he lived rather expensively than otherwise. As no room- 
rent appears to have been charged to him, it is probable that he had 



28 



MEMOIR OF DAVID MALLET. 



" Edinburgh College, March 5, 1734. 
" Sederunt the Principal, Messrs. Goudie, Stuart, Drum- 
mond, Maclaurin, St. Clair, Dawson, Stevenson. Mr. Stuart 
acquainted the meeting that David Mallet, now at Oxford, 
formerly a student in this University, had writ desiring a di- 
ploma of Master of Arts from us. It was found by the registers 
that he had studied at least three years in this University, and 
it was testified by his Professors that he had studied diligently ; 
and he having by some of his works, which have been pub- 
lished, given sufficient proofs of his learning to the world, they 
agreed to give him a diploma of Master of Arts, to be delivered 
to him upon his subscribing the oath usually signed in such 
cases ; and they did appoint Messrs. Stuart and Stevenson to 
oversee the draft of the diploma." 

In the " Record of Degrees in Arts" the following entry 
is preserved : 

" Decimo sexto die mensis Aprilis D. David Malloch, alias 
Mallet (olim Alumnus noster), Artium liberalium Magister Re- 



in the "Register of Fees" the following entry occurs : 
" 1734, Apr. 16. David Malloch, alias Mallet, Artium MagV 

It may be inferred that Mallet was desirous of procur- 
ing his Edinburgh degree, that he might the more readily 
obtain a similar degree in Oxford. It will be observed^ that 
on March 5th the University of Edinburgh agreed to give 
him the diploma of M. A. This step might be considered 
a sufficient groundwork for his admission to a degree in 
Arts in the University of Oxford. Accordingly we find 



not rooms in the Hall. If he were married in the latter part of his 
residence, he would, of course, be in lodgings. 



MEMOIR OF DAVID MALLET. 29 

that on March 15th he was admitted to the degree of 
Bachelor of Arts by decree of Convocation. The Chan- 
cellor, Lord Arran, had written in his favour the follow- 
ing' letter, which was read in Convocation, March 15th, 
1733: 

" Mr. Vice-Chancellor and Gentlemen, 
" I have been moved on the behalfe of David Mallet, gentle- 
man commoner of St. Mary Hall, who resided in the University 
of Edinbrough above four years, and then took the degree of 
Master of Arts about ten years since; but having been some 
time entred in this University, where he intends to do his 
exercise and proceed Master of Arts, he humbly prays that by 
the favor of the Convocation the degree of Bachelor of Arts 
may be conferred on him in order to determine this Lent, and 
also that so soon as he hath performed the rest of his Exercise 
for his Master's degree, he may be allowed to be a Candidate 
for the said degree without any further Dispensation. To this 
his request I give my consent, and am, 

Mr. Vice- Chancellor and Gentlemen, 

Your affectionate friend and servant, 

Arran. 

"Grosvenor Street, March 8, 1733-4." 

Now, it will be at once obvious that Lord Arran's 
letter, though in all probability founded on Mallet's own 
information, must have been written by him hastily, and 
with an imperfect recollection of the facts stated by him; for 
it would be very improbable that Mallet would peril his 
position or degrees in the University by any misrepresenta- 
tion, when the truth could be so easily ascertained either 
by the Chancellor or the University. The statements in 
his lordship's letter may indeed, by a slig-ht transposition, 



30 MEMOIR OF DAVID MALLET. 

be reconciled witli the facts as already mentioned. Mallet 
had resided three or four years in the University of Edin- 
burgh, about ten years before, and had obtained the 
diploma of M. A., although it was not formally completed 
till the 16th April 1734. 

On the occasion of the Prince of Orange's visit,* the 
University of Oxford presented a volume of Verses, in 
several languages, commendatory of their royal visitor. 
The volume is designated Epithalamia Oxoniensia. It 
contains the tribute of all the dignified and distinguished 
men at the University. A copy of verses f by Mallet was 
comprised in the volume. These verses are reprinted in 
his Works, 3 vols. 1759, but considerably altered from the 
original. 

On the 6th April 1734 Mallet was admitted to the de- 
gree of M. A. in the University of Oxford. It is probable 
his first marriage took place in the latter part of this year. 

In 1739 his tragedy of Mustaphal was acted at Drury 
Lane§ with great applause. The Prologue was by Thomson. 
This tragedy was dedicated to the Prince of Wales. 

* March 1, 173|. His marriage with the Princess Boyal took place 
on March 14. 

+ The title is, " To his Highness the Prince of Orange, on his com- 
ing to Oxford." At the foot is subjoined, David Mallet, B.A., of St. 
Mary Hall. 

X Letter from Pope to Aaron Hill, Feb. 12, 1738-39. Aaron Hill's 
Works, vol. ii. 67. Davies' Life of Garrich (1780), vol. ii. 34. See in 
Gentleman's Mag. vol. ix. 95, Dedication, Prologue, and Epilogue ; 
vol. ix. 96, ' ' Lines to Mallet, occasioned by being present at the repre- 
sentation of ' Mustapha ;'" also Scots Mag. vol. i. 87, 88. 

" Mustapha" had previously formed the subject of a tragedy; first, 
by Fulk Greville, Lord Brooke, 1609; and by Koger Boyle, Earl of 
Orrery, 1667. 

§ Feb. 13, 1739 ; acted aboxit fourteen nights. Biog. Dram. vol. ii. 247. 




^.HadSjfffl 



Z/AtZ^/Z/ 



MEMOIR OF DAVID MALLET. 31 

The lines To Mira, from the Country y were published 
in 1740.* 

Mallet's next dramatic performance was the Masque of 
Alfred^ written jointly with Thomson, by command of 
the Prince. It was acted at Clifden,J August 1, 1740, 
in honour of the birthday of the Princess Augusta. It 
was afterwards almost wholly changed by Mallet, and 
brought upon the stage at Drury Lane§ in 1751. 

* In the Gentleman's Mag. vol. x. 197, "By an eminent hand." 
See Letter xni. Europ. Mag. vol. xxiv. 257 ; also Letter xv. vol. xxiv. 
342 ; Letter xvhi. vol. xxv. 100. 

f See Gentleman's Mag. vol. x. 411 ; Monthly Keview, vol, iv, 366 ; 
London Mag. for 1740, pp. 393, 403, 408 ; Biog. Dram. vol. ii. 8 ; Aaron 
Hill's Works, vol. ii. 147. 

+ << Friday, August 1, was performed in the gardens of Cliefden, in 
commemoration of the Accession of his late Majesty, and in Honour of 
the Princess Augusta (the Prince and Princess of Wales, with all their 
Court, being present), a new Masque of two Acts, taken from the vari- 
ous Fortunes of Alfred the Great, by Mr. Thomson and Mr. Mallet ; 
also a Masque of Musick, called 'The Judgment of Paris,' by Mr. Dry- 
den ; and concluded with several Scenes out of Mr. Pilch's Pantomimic 
Entertainments." (Gentleman's Mag. vol. x. Aug. 1740, p. 411.) 

August 1st was the anniversary of the accession of George I. The 
birthday of the Princess Augusta was July 31st. The actors were as 
follows : 

Alfred Milward. 



Eltruda 

Hermit 

Earl of Devon 

Corin . 

Emma 



Mrs. Horton. 
Quin. 
Mills. 
Salwat. 
Mrs. Clive. 



See Davies' Life of Garrick (1780), vol. ii. 36 ; Graves' Reminiscences of 
Shenstone, p. 93. 

§ Feb. 23, 1751 ; acted nine times, see Gentleman's Mag. vol. xliii. 
570 ; London Mag. vol. xx. 99, 133 ; Victor's History of the Theatres 
(1761), vol. ii. 126 ; Davies' Life of Garrick (1780), vol.ii. 37 ; 3d edition 
(1781), vol. ii. 39. Alfred was altered by Garrick, Oct. 9, 1773, and acted 
about eight times. 

''•Alfred, an Opera, as altered from the Play by Messrs. Thomson 



32 MEMOIR OF DAVID MALLET. 

Of Mallet's remaining' writings the principal are a Life 



and Mallet. Printed for A. Millar. Price Is." 4to. (London Mag. 1745. 
vol. xiv. 156.) 

Acted at Covent Garden, 1745. (Theatrical Dictionary, 1792, p. 6 ; 
Play-House Companion, 1764.) 

"Alfred the Great. Musical Drama. Acted at Drury Lane, 1745." 
(Theatrical Rememlrancer, 1788, p. 194.) 

In 1753 Alfred was produced as an Opera, with the following title : 

" ALFKED THE GREAT, 

A 

DRAMA FOR MUSIC, 

Formerly composed by command of his late Royal Highness 

THE PRINCE OF WALES, 

AND 

Performed at CLLEFDON, on the birth-day of her Royal Highness the 

PRINCESS AUGUSTA. 

The Musical part of this Performance being then too short for an Even- 
ing's Entertainment of itself, the drama is new written, greatly 
improved from Mr. Mallet's PLAY ; 

And the MUSIC (excepting two or three things, which being particular 
Favourites at Cliefdon, are retained by Desire) 

NEW COMPOSED BY MR. ARNE. 

LONDON : 

PRINTED IN THE YEAR MDCCLIII. 
[Price One Shilling.]" 

The songs retained are: The Shepherd's plain life, &c; Sweet valley, 
say, &c. ; If those who live, &c. ; A youth adorned, &c. ; Peace, the 
fairest, &c. Several new songs are introduced. Four verses of Rule 
Britannia end the Opera, which is in three acts. The characters are : 
Alfred; Prince Edward; Corin, a Shepherd; Eltruda; Emma, a 
Shepherdess. It is not stated where it was performed, nor are the 
names of the singers given. 

Mallet's version of Alfred (1751) is printed in The Theatrical Mag. 
(1781), "as acted at the Theatres Royal Drury Lane and Covent Gar- 
den." There is a portrait of Reddish as Alfred. 

There are other dramas on the subject of Alfred : 

"Alfred the Great; Deliverer of his Country. A Tragedy. 8vo. 1753." 



MEMOIR OF DAVID MALLET. 33 

of Lord Bacon* prefixed to an edition of Bacon's works, 
published in 1740. 

The Prince of Wales being at variance with his royal 
father was desirous of acquiring popularity by the patron- 
age of men of letters. Amongst these was our author, 
who was appointed in 1742, May 27th, Under-Secretaryf 
to his Royal Highness, with a salary of 200/. a year. 

In 1743, October, appeared The Works of Mr. Mallet, 
consisting of Plays and Poems. % 

On the death of the Duchess of Marlborough, 1744, it 
was found by her will§ that she had left to Glover and 



By the author of The Friendly Rivals. See London Mag. xxii. 199, and 
Theatrical Bemembrancer, 1788, p. 213. 

"Alfred. A Tragedy. By John Home." 8vo. 1778. It was per- 
formed only three nights at Covent Garden. First time January 21, 
1778. 

"Alfred. An Historical Tragedy." 8vo. 1789. Sheffield. 

"Alfred; or, the Magic Banner. A Drama. By J. 0. Keefe." Acted 
at the Haymarket, 1796. 8vo. 1798. 

"Alfred the Great. A Musical Drama, in two acts. By Pocock." 
Acted first time at Covent Garden Nov. 3, 1827. 

"Alfred the Great; or, the Patriot King. An Historical Play. 
By J. S. Knowles." 1831. 

* "Mallet's Life of Bacon has no inconsiderable merit as an acute 
and elegant dissertation relative to its subject." Boswell. (Boswell's 
Johnson, vol. vii. 12.) See London Mag. vol. ix. 252 ; Scots Mag. vol. 
ii. 240. 

f Gentleman's Mag. vol. xii. 275; Scots Mag. 1742, p 243; Nichols' 
Lit. Anec. vol. vi. 458. 

X The title-page to a portion of the volume is, Poems on several 
Occasions. Some of these poems had not before been printed. This 
collection of Poems is dedicated to the Prince of Wales. See Advertise- 
ment at the end of Mustapha, 1739, and the Life of Bacon, 1740 : also 
in London Mag. for 1743, vol. xii. 520. 

§ "I believe Mr. Glover is a very honest man, who wishes, as I do, 
all the good that can happen, to preserve the liberties and laws of Eng- 
land. Mr. Mallet was recommended to me by the late Duke of Mon- 



34 MEMOIR OF DAVID MALLET. 

Mallet the sum of 1000/., on condition that they should 
draw up from the family papers a life of the gTeat Duke. 
Glover declined the task, and the whole devolved upon 
Mallet. The life, however, never appeared.* It is not 
doubted that he took some trouble in collecting materials 
for his work, and that he intended to do it at some time. 

After a long' interval, his next work was A myntor and 
Theodora ,f 1747, " in which," Dr. Johnson observes, "it 
cannot be denied that there is copiousness and elegance of 
language, vigour of sentiment, and imagery well adapted 
to take possession of the fancy." Of this poem Gibbon 
thus records his opinion : " If my friend should ever attain 
poetic fame, it will be acquired by this work."t 
\ Early in 1748 Thomson, West, and Mallet were de- 

prived of their pensions of 100/. a-year which Lyttelton's 
influence with the Prince had procured for them, and which 
were taken away when he incurred the displeasure of their 
patron. In a letter (1748, April) to his friend Paterson, 
Thomson says : " I must learn to work at this mine a little 
more, being struck off from a certain hundred pounds a- 



trose, whom I admired extremely for his great steadiness and behaviour 
in all things that related to the preservation of our laws and the public 
good." (Extract from Codicil. See London Mag. 1745^ 186-191.) 

* See Aaron Hill's Works, vol. ii. 244; Advertisement to Alfred, 
1751; Boswell's Life of Johnson, vol. iv. 192, — vol. vii. 260; Da vies' 
Life of Garrich (1780), vol. ii. 56. 

f Published in May, price 3s. 6d. Mallet received from the pub- 
lisher 120 guineas for it. See Gentleman's Mag. vol. Ixii. 200 ; London 
Mag. 1747, p. 248 ; Monthly Review, vol. xv. 55 ; Davies' Life of Gar- 
rick (1780), vol. ii. 41 ; 3d edition (1781), vol. ii. 41. 

% Gibbon's Journal, Jan. 1, 1764, — Miscellaneous Works', vol. v. 450. 
5 vols. London, 1814. 




■ -. 



PRINCE OF WALES. 



MEMOIR OF DAVID MALLET. 35 

year which you know I had. West, Mallet, and I were 

all routed in one day." 

j 

When, after Pope's death, Lord Bolingbroke resolved 
to take vengeance on his memory for having' clandestinely 
printed his pamphlet called Hie' Patriot 'King* Mallet 
was employed to bring forward the charge in an adver- 
tisement to a publication of that and some other tracts. 
He was rewarded, not long after, with the legacy! of Lord 
Bolingbroke's works, published and unpublished. About 
1749 he wrote An Epistle to the Author of a libel enti- 
tled A Letter to the Editor of Bolingbroke's Works, and 
A Familiar Epistle to the most Impudent Man living.% 

The poem of Cupid and Hymen, or the Wedding Day, 
appears to have been written in 1750.§ On March 20th, 
175^, death deprived our author of his illustrious patron, 
Frederick Prince of Wales. In 1754, March 6, he pub- 
lished an edition of Bolingbroke's works, in 5 vols. 4to.|| 
When this edition was prepared for the press, a claim was 

* See Monthly Review, vol. i. 52, 147 ; Davies' Life of GarricTc (1780), 
vol ii 40. 

f Lord Bolingbroke's will bears date 1751, November 22d. See ex- 
tract from it in Annual Register, vol. is. 292. Pope's original MS. copy 
of the "'Iliad" descended from Bolingbroke to Mallet, and is now in the 
British Museum. 

X See Johnson's Lives, by Cunningham, vol. hi. 93. 

§ " Behold yon couple, arm in arm, 

Whom I eight years have known to charm ; — " 

Cupid and Hymen, lines 71, 72. 

j| See Monthly Review, vol. x. 185, 250, 343, 388,— vol. xvi. 238 ; 
Maty's Review, vol. i. 82 ; Scots Mag. for 1756, p. 528,— for 1754, p. 263 ; 
Nichols' Lit. Anec. vol. v. 651 ; Davies' Life of Garrich (1780), vol. ii. 
43-49,— 3d edition (1781), vol. ii. 43-49 ; "A short State of the Case 
with relation to a Claim made by Richard Franklin, Bookseller, on 
David Mallet, Esq. : given gratis by R. Franklin, in Covent Garden" 



36 MEMOIR OF DAVID MALLET. 

made by Franklin, the printer, who had previously pub- 
lished Bolingbroke's political tracts and other works. The 
matter in dispute was left to arbitration, and the decision 
was in favour of the printer ; but Mallet revoked his sub- 
mission. In 1755 his Masque of Britannia* appeared at 
Drury Lane,f and was received with universal applause. 



(1754) ; Letter (dated Paris, March 7, N.S. 1752) of Lord Hyde to Mal- 
let, concerning Bolingbroke's works, with Mallet's answer (Birch and 
Sloane Mss. No. 4254). 

Lord Hyde's letter was sent by the Widow Mallet, with the manu- 
script of Lord Bolingbroke's works, to the British Museum, in order to 
justify her husband's integrity in the edition of them. See Birch and 
Sloane Mss. No. 4313, fol. 510 ; also Additional Mss. No. 4948, fol. 441, 
for a letter from Lyttelton to Lord Bolingbroke. At the foot of it is 
this memorandum : "This is a letter from that Mr. Littleton who wrote 
the Conversion of St. Paul to the Great Lord Bolingbroke. Copied from 
the original by me, 

* " Britannia : a Masque. Set to Music by Mr. Arne. 6d. Millar. 
Mr. David Mallet is the reputed author. His design was to animate 
the sons of Britannia to vindicate their country's rights, and avenge her 
wrongs." (Monthly Beview, Scots Mag. vol. xvii. 270.) 

See Monthly Keview, vol. xii. 383 ; London Mag. vol. xxiv. 239, 246- 
248, 255 ; Gentleman's Mag. vol. xxv. 238 ; Biog. Dram. vol. i. 196,— 
vol. ii. 136. Victor's History of the Theatres (1761), vol. ii. 131. 

This was not the first Masque on the subject of Britannia. 

" Britannia Triumphans : a Masque. By Sir Win. Davenant and 
Inigo Jones. 1637." 

" Britannia and Batavia : a Masque. Written on the Marriage of 
the Princess Boyal with the Prince of Orange. By Geo. Lillo. 1740." 

" Britannia Rediviva : Allegorical Masque. 1746." (Theatrical Ke- 
membrancer (1788), p. 194. ) 

f May 9, 1755 ; also Feb. 10, 1756 ; and May 11, 1757. There is a 
portrait of Garrick in the character of a drunken sailor, speaking the 
Prologue to "Britannia." (Theatrical Bouquet; London, 1780.) 



MEMOIR OF DAVID MALLET. 37 

In 1756 he was employed to turn the public vengeance 
upon Admiral Byng, and wrote a letter of accusation under 
the character of "A Plain Man."* He is said to have 
received a pension for his services. This, however, is im- 
probable, inasmuch as the party for whom he was writing-, 
being" out of office, was consequently out of power, and 
therefore had not the means of granting* pensions. 

In 1759 he published a collection of his Works in 
Prose and Verse, in 3 vols.,f inscribed to Lord Mansfield. 

* " To Lord Anson. 

" Wimpole, Oct. 10, 1756. 

"My deae Lord, — I have taken the opportunity of the Marquis of 
Rockingham's doing me the honour of a visit, to return (by his servant) 
to Mr. Cleveland the manuscript of Mr. Mallet's pamphlet. I had read 
it quite through, and, upon the whole, cannot find much fault with it ; 
though I must own I am not much enamoured with it. But this entre 
nous; for authors of this khod must not be discouraged by too much 
criticism. However, I have ventured to put down in the enclosed sheet 
of paper some remai'ks and queries, which I desire your Lordship will 
take the trouble to peruse, and to consider whether you think any of 
them improper, especially in what relates to maritime affairs and dis- 
positions Whatever you shall disapprove in this paper of mine, I 
desire you will strike out, and then deliver it to Mr. Cleveland, with my 
request to him to copy it over fair, and forthwith send such copy to Mr. 
Mallet, keeping my original. My reason (which I will tell your Lord- 
ship) for taking this method is, that I am not fond of giving a handle 
to be named as a joint author with this gentleman ; but I have writ him 
a very civil letter, wherein I have informed him that he will very soon 
receive such a paper from Mr. Cleveland. I have also modestly sug- 
gested to him to add something further, by way of observation and 
argument, upon the points of conduct chiefly objected to; for in that 
part I suspect the performance to be chiefly deficient. 

" Ever yours, Hardwicke." 

(Barrow's Life of Anson, p. 262. 8vo. 1839.) 

f London : Millar. 9s. See Monthly Review, vol. xx. 464 ; Edinb. 
Mag. vol. iii. 150. 

" Deliver to the bearer of this a copy of my Works, three volumes 
duodecimo, in sheets. D. Mallet. 

"Aug. 3d, 1763.— To Mr. Millar." 
(From original in the possession of D. Laing, Esq.) 



38 MEMOIR OF DAVID MALLET. 

In March 1760 appeared his ballad of Edwin and Emma, 

but without the name of the author. In 1761, to serve his 

countryman Lord Bute, he published Truth in Rhyme. 

On this production Lord Chesterfield thus addresses the 

author : 

" It has no faults, or I no faults can spy ; 
It is all beauty, or all blindness I." * 

In 1762 he published a small collection of Poems on 
Several Occasions ,t with a dedication to the Duke of 

* These two lines are not original, but slightly altered from the fol- 
lowing : 

" Thou hast no faults, or I no faults can spy ; 
Thou art all beauty, or all blindness I." 

(Verses addressed to the Author of " The Dispensary," by Chr. Cod- 
rington.) Allan Ramsay, in the dedication of his Poems (Edinb. 1728, 
May), says : ' ' As a certain poet says of his mistress, so I of my 
poems : 

' ' They have no faults, or I no faults can spy ; 
They're beautiful, or sometimes blind am I." 

See Quarterly Review, vol. lxxvi. 475, as to Mallet being the author 
of a tract entitled, "An Apology for a late Resignation" (Lord Chester- 
field's, in 1748). 

+ " An elegant addition to the parterres of Parnassus." (Scots Mag. 
1762, vol. xxiv. 374.) See Edinb. Mag. vol. vi. 208 ; Crit. Review, vol. 
xiii. 353 ; Monthly Review, vol. xxvi. 360 ; London Mag. vol. xxxi. 344. 
This edition contains an illustration of Edwin and Emma, from a 
drawing of P. Sandby. I have, however, seen but one copy which has 
this print. 

" Let the following Advertisement be put in the best place of the 
first page of the Public Advertiser to-morrow : 

' In a few days will be published, Poems on several occasions. 
' By D. Mallet, Esq.' 
On Wednesday, let it be in the daily Advertiser the same way. 

" For Mr. Millar." 
(From original in possession of David Laing, Esq.) 

Andrew Millar was the principal publisher of Mallet's works. He 
was also acquainted with Dodsley, for we find that in 1739 a letter was 
addressed to him " to be left at Mr. Dodsley's, at Tully's Head, Pall 
Mall, London." 






MEMOIR OF DAVID MALLET. 39 

Marlborough. His tragedy of Elvira* dedicated to the 
Earl of Bute, was acted at Drury Lanef iu 1763, in which 
year he was appointed Keeper of the Book of Entries J for 
ships in the Port of London. 

Towards the end of his life he went with his wife to 
France ; § but after a while, finding" his health declining, 

* " 1762. Nov. 26.— I went with Mallet to breakfast with Garrick ; 
and thence to Drury-Lane house, where I assisted at a very private re- 
hearsal, in the Green-room, of a new tragedy of Mallet's, called Elvira. 

" 1763. Jan. 19 ... . My father and I went to the ' Kose,' in the 
passage of the play-house, where we found Mallet, with about thirty 
friends. We dined together, and went thence into the pit, where we 
took our places in a body, ready to silence all opposition. However, we 
had no occasion to exert ourselves. Notwithstanding the malice of 
party, Mallet's nation, connections, and, indeed, imprudence, we heard 
nothing but applause. I think it was deserved. The plan was borrowed 
from M. de la Motte ; but the details and language have great merit. 
A fine vein of dramatic poetry runs thro' the piece." (Gibbon's Jour- 
nal, Miscellaneous Works, vol. i. 157.) 

See Scots Mag. vol. xxv. 45, 48 ; Gentleman's Mag. vol. xxxiii. 29 ; 
London Mag. vol. xxxii. 36, 44 ; Monthly Eeview, vol. xxviii. 67 ; Critical 
Review, vol. xv. 90 ; Davies' Life of Garrick, 3d edition, ch. xxxii. 

Elvira was attacked in a pamphlet, entitled " Critical Strictures on 
the New Tragedy of Elvira." It was written by the Hon. Andrew Erskine, 
George Dempster, and James Boswell. See Boswell's Life of Johnson, 
vol. ii. 184-185, and Note (1), p. 185 ; Critical Eeview, vol. xv. 90. An- 
other pamphlet was published by Franklin, London, entitled "An Act 
before the First Act of the Tragedy of Elvira by David Mallet. 8 pages. 
Gratis." See Scots Mag. 1763, p. 161 ; Monthly Eeview, 1763, p. 167. 

f 1763, Jan. 19 ; acted thirteen times. The Epilogue was written 
by Garrick ; see Companion to the Play-Rouse, 1764, vols. i. and ii. ; 
Davies' Life of Garrick (1780), vol. ii. 57. 

J London Gazette, Feb. 8, 1763 ; Gentleman's Mag. vol. xxxiii. 98 ; 
Lond. Mag. vol. xxxii. 281 ; Scots Mag c 1763, vol. xxv. 119 ; Victor's 
History of the Theatres, 1771, vol. hi. p. 48. In the Court Eegister of 
the time he is designated "Inspector of Exchequer Book in the Out- 
ports. Salary 300£." 

§ David Hume, in a letter to A. Millar (dated Paris, Sept. 3, 1764), 
observes : "I think the Dutchess of Douglas has chosen well in making 
Mallet one of her commissioners." 

Mallet appears to have been in Paris in October 1761. He writes from 



40 MEMOIR OF DAVID MALLET. 

he returned alone* to England, and diedf on Sunday the 
21st of April 1765, aged sixty-three years. J 

Mallet was twice married. Of his first wife, who died 
in January 174|, nothing particular is known; but he had 
by her several children. One daughter, who married a 
Genoese gentleman named Celesia, who had formerly re- 
sided in London as Consul, wrote a tragedy called Almida& 



Paris, on Dec. 16, 1764, to Lord Bathurst, in reference to the Douglas 
Cause. This letter (original), in the collection of C. A. Law, Esq. F.L.S., 
F.Z.S., was sold, on March 20th, 1755, by Puttick and Simpson (Cata- 
logue, lot No. 259), for the sum of 11. lis. 6d 

* Mrs. Mallet appears to have been alone in Paris in April 1764, and 
shortly afterwards to have retired to the forest of Fontainbleau. She 
doubtless returned to England before her husband's death, as she proved 
his will very shortly after his funeral. See Burton's Life of D. Hume, 
vol. ii. 200, 232. 

" . . . Mallet's widow, I hear, sets out on her return to France very 
soon; and, having despatched her daughter down to Scotland, there 
remains nothing in this country that can depi'ive the beaux esprits of 
Paris of the company of that unparalleled lady. . . ." (Letter from 
Bp. Douglas to D. Hume, London, June 25, 1765, — Letters of eminent 
Persons addressed to D. Hume, p. 19. 8vo. 1849.) 

f His death is thus announced : ' ' 1765, April 21. Died David 
Mallet, Esq., author of the famous ballad of William and Margaret, 
several tragedies, and other poetical works." (Scots Mag. 1765, vol. 
xxvii. 224.) 

" David Mallett, Esq., well known in the republic of letters." (Gen- 
tleman's Mag. vol. xxxv. 199.) 

"David Mallett, Esq., well known in the literary world." (London 
Mag. May 1765, p. 265.) 

X He was buried on April 27th, in St. George's burial-ground, South 
Audley Street, in the " best ground," according to the sexton's book. 
There is no trace of the place of his burial, nor is there any monumental 
stone or tablet to his memory. 

§ See letter from Madame Celesia to Garrick (dated Genoa, June 4, 
1769), on the subject of her translation of Voltaire's Tancred, after- 
wards produced as Almida. Garrick Correspondence (1831), vol. i. 354. 
See other letters on the same subject, vol. i. 379, 399, 415. 



MEMOIR OF DAVID MALLET. 41 

in 1771, and Indolence, a poem, in 1772. Almida was 
acted at Drury Lane with great success. This lady died 
at Genoa in September 1790.* 

Mallet married secondly, in 1742, f Miss Lucy Elstob,J 



1771, Jan. 12. Acted about ten nights. See Garrick Correspond- 
ence, vol. i., Biograph. Memoir, p. 50. 

Garrick, in his Italian tour, having received civilities from the 
authoress at Genoa, thought himself bound, in return, to bring out her 
play with every advantage his theatre could afford. (Murphy.) 

See the Prologue to it by Wm. Whitehead, Esq., in the London Mag. 
vol. xl. 49 ; and Weekly Mag. vol. ii. 277, Feb. 1771 ; and Epilogue to 
it by Garrick, id. p. 30S. See London Mag. vol. xl. 7, for an account of 
the plot ; vol. xl. 12, for portrait of Mrs. Barry as Almida. Victor's 
History of the Theatres (1771), vol. hi. 171; Theatrical Review (1772), 
vol. i. 194. 

* See Biograph. Dram. 1812, p. 97 ; Gentleman's Mag. vol. lxi. 
Part I. p. 381 ; Scots Mag. 1791, vol. liii. 203. In one of her letters to 
Garrick, Mrs. Celesia calls her husband "Mr. Celesia." In the same 
letter (dated Genoa, Jan. 21, 1770), she speaks of a ten years' absence 
from her native country. 

f "Oct. 7, 1712. David Mallet, Esq., Under-Secretary to the Prince 
of Wales, to Miss Lucy Elstob, with 10,000£." Gentleman's Mag. vol. xii. 
546. See also London Mag. vol. xi. 517 ; Scots Mag. 1712, vol. iv. 487. 
The above date is incorrect. The following is a copy of the marriage- 
register, from the Register Book of Weddings in the parish of St. 
Andrew, Holborn : 

"Anno 1742. Oct. 2.— David Mallet, of the parish of Chiswick, in 
the county of Middlesex, Esq., widower, and Lucy Elstob, of the parish 
of St. George, Hanover Square, in the same county, spinster. By 
Licence." 

In the author's poem of Cupid and Hymen, or the Wedding Day, 
he thus alludes to the anniversary of his own wedding-day : 

" But rays, all equal, soft and sober, 
To suit the second of October ; 
To suit the pair, whose wedding-day 
This sun now gilds with annual ray." (Lines 7-10.) 

October 2d (Saturday) might be chosen designedly by Mallet for his 
wedding-day. It was the anniversary of the election of his early Mend 
Ker to the Professorship of Humanity in the University of Edinburgh. 
X See Aaron Hill's Works, vol. ii. p. 145, 208. Gibbon in his memoir 



42 MEMOIR OF DAVID MALLET. 

of the county of York, a lady of great merit and beauty, 
the youngest daughter of Lewis Elstob, a steward of the 
Earl of Carlisle. By this lady he got a fortune of 10,000Z. 
It has been stated, that by a settlement after marriage 
4000/. was settled to particular uses, over which Mallet 
had no control. There were two daughters by this mar- 
riage.* One married Captain Macgregor, in the French 
service ; the other Captain Williams of the British Engi- 
neers. Mrs. MacgTegor became deranged, and was con- 
fined in an asylum at Paris. Mrs. Williams parted in two 
months from her husband. 

Mrs. Mallet survived her husband, and died in Paris on 
the 17th September 1795, at the age of seventy-nine years. 

Some account of the places of Mallet's residence may 
now be given. In 1735, and up to 1748, he resided in 



of himself (from 1758 to 1760) has these remarks: " The most useful 
friends of my father were the Mallets ; they received me with civility 
and kindness, at first on his account, and afterwards on my own ; and 
(if I may use Lord Chesterfield's words) I was soon domesticated in their 
house. Mr. Mallet, a name among the English poets, is praised by an 
unforgiving enemy for the ease and elegance of his conversation, and 
his wife was not destitute of wit or learning. . . . ." Gibbon's Miscel- 
laneous Works, vol. i. 115 ; vol. ii. 42. See Gibbon's Roman Empire 
(London, 1854, 8 vols.), vol. i. 60. 

Mrs. Sarah Scott (in one of her letters) writes thus : "This Mallet 
married the youngest Miss Elstob, daughter to the late Lord Carlisle's 
steward : perhaps you may have seen her at Ripon, an odious conceited 
pedant." (Gentleman's Mag. lxxv. 219.) 

The date of Mrs. Scott's letter is uncertain, yet at one time we 
find that Mallet and his wife were on terms of great intimacy with 

Mrs. Scott and her husband : " 1763, Jan. 12 I went to Covent 

Garden to see Woodward in Bobadil, and supped with the Mallets at 
George Scott's." Gibbon's Journal. 

* See Aaron Hill's Works, vol. ii. 273, 338, 346, 371. 













ci^^%Z> &%/ -M^^ZS&TZ/ 






MEMOIR OF DAVID MALLET. 43 

the parish of Chiswick ; the greater part, if not the whole, 
of that period, at Strand on the Green.* Some of his 
letters during' this interval are addressed from London. 
In December 1742, Lord Orrery writes to him in Arling- 
ton Street, which is mentioned also in a letter to him from 
A. Hill, May 5, 1749. 

In 1738 he appears to have been abroad, and in 1745 
he travelled into Holland . f In July of that year he brought 
his wife to London, previous to the birth of her second 
child. They occupied lodgings in Pall Mall, near the 

* See Aaron Hill's Works, vol. ii. 210. I have not been able to trace 
his residence at Strand on the Green. In the Overseer's Book, from 
1736 to 1766, in the parish church of Chiswick, the first mention of 
Mallet's name is at page 81 : 

- Sept. 17, 1740. M | John King, ) _ 

Mr - (Thos. Hearne, 5 overseers. 
Strand on the Green (No. on List, 48). Rent SI. ; Eate, 12s. 
Mr. Mallett." 
This entry continues each year until 1748, in which year it appears that 
Mr. Clives occupied the house until 1758, and was succeeded, in 1759, 
by Sergeant Wilson, the name of Atwood being next above, and Martin 
next below. The last entry of Mallet's name is : 

- Lady-Day, 1717. Mr (James Peters, > 0verseers< 
(Thomas Light, ) 
(No. on List, 24.) Eent 121. ; Eate 18s. 
U. James Johnson (next above), 
2U. Mr. Hawes (next below)." 
The only variation in the entry of Mallet's name, beyond the rent (from 
SI. to 121.) and the rate, is in 1742, when the entry is, ' ' Mr. Mallett, or 
occupier;" but in 1743 it again appears "Mr. Mallett." His residence 
is described (Hone's Table Booh, vol. iii. part ii. 589) as being near Kew 
Bridge. The present or the former bridge (nearly on the site of the 
present one) must be meant, as in Mallet's time there was no bridge. 
The first bridge, a wooden one, was finished in 1759. The present was 
opened in September 1789. 

He varies his address, writing " Strand near Brentford," " Strand," 
and " Strand Green." 

f See A. Hill's Works, vol. ii. 56 and 244. 



44 . MEMOIR OF DAVID MALLET. 

Palace. In 1746 Mallet and his wife visited Tunbridge 
Wells. It seems not unlikely but that he was an occa- 
sional visitant at that place of then fashionable resort.* 
In 1748 (Ladyday) Mallet changed his residence for Put- 
ney, f Writing' in July, he states that for seven months past 
he had been very ill. From a note of Mrs. Mallet (May 
1765) written on a letter}: of Sir W. Chetwynd to Mallet, 
it appears that Mallet was in Paris in 1755. From about 
1758 to the time of his death he resided in George Street,§ 

* See A. Hill's Works, vol. ii. 265-7. Also Letter from Lord Boling- 
broke to A. Hill, dated Aug. 21, 1746. Gentleman's Mag. vol. iv. (new- 
series), p. 148. Also the author's Epigram, written at Tunbridge Wells 
in 1760. 

f See A. Hill's Works, vol. ii. 309. 312 (Letter, July 28, 1748). In 
the rate-book of the parish of Putney for 1749, page 5, this entry 
occurs : 

"12cZ.Rate. David MaUitt, Esq. ... £1 17 6 

2d Rate. Harding and Ball, Overseers. 

1749." 
X MS. in British Museum. 

§ Mallet's name appears for the first time in the rate-books of St. 
George's, a.d. 1758. The names on the west side of George Street in 
that year are the following : 

Thomas Dobyns. John Lockwood. 

Thomas Dobyns. David Leathes. 

Catherine Uthwat. Lawrence Dundas, Esq. 

John Bridges, Esq. John Wyndham, Esq. 

Miss Archer. Sir Thomas Clarges. 

Thomas Dobyns. Mrs. Chudleigh. 

Thomas Dobyns.. Earl of Fauconberg. 

Sir Edward Hawke. Sir Walter Baggot. 

David Mallet [46J. rental]. Lady Catherine Noel. 
Col. Benj. Carpenter. (19 houses.) 

In 1763 the names of occupiers on the west side of the street are as 
under : 

Thomas Dobyns. Mr. Grant. 

Thomas Dobyns. David Leathes. 

Mrs. .Uthwat. Henry Talbot, Esq. 

Sir Brook Brydges. Earl Cowper. 








J^rte^y ■ - y ^/ 



MEMOIR OF DAVID MALLET. 45 

Hanover Square, within a very short distance from the 
mansion wherein he found a home during his early resi- 
dence in London. 

His plays and poems have been frequently reprinted. 
His ballad of William and Margaret has been translated 



Miss Archer. Sir Edward Hulse. 

Thomas Dobyns. Mrs. Anne Coatsworth. 

Thomas Dobyns. Earl of Fauconberg. 

Mrs. Tyrwhitt. Dean of Lincoln. 

David Mallet, Esq. Lady Catherine Noel. 

Howell Gwynne, Esq. 
In 1764 the names immediately above and below Mallet's are the 
same. On the fly-leaf opposite Mallet's name is written, "Mrs. 
Mallet." From 1758 to 1764, both inclusive, Mallet's name is the ninth 
in the list. In the list for 1765 the first name in the list is that of Mrs. 
Uthwat. Mallet's house is consequently seventh, and among the very 
few changes of names is that of Lady Cowper in the place of Earl 
Cowper. The change in the number of houses was probably made by 
taking away from the list two houses at the junction with Conduit 
Street. In 1766 also, the house formerly occupied by Mallet was 
seventh in the list, the name of the occupier being General Gore. At 
the period here mentioned the houses were not numbered. The num- 
bering subsequently appears to have been made from the list in the 
rate-books. We know that Lord Chancellor Cowper died (a.d. 1723) in 
the house now known as No. 13, the same doubtless which was occu- 
pied afterwards by his descendants. We see, then, on reference to the 
lists above given, that the residence of Mallet was the present No. 8 ; 
for forty years the residence of the late Thomas Phillips, Esq., R.A. 

" Mr. Mallet sends his compliments to Dr. Birch, and wishes the 
Doctor, when he comes this way to-morrow or Tuesday morning, would 
take the trouble to call in George Street : the gout having for the pre- 
sent disabled him from waiting on the Doctor. His house is almost 
over-against the church. Sunday, Dec. 7th, 1760." 

See Letter to Derrick, Dec. 18, 1760, in Nichols' Literary Anecdotes, 
vol. ii. 371. In an anecdote of Mallet (Europ. Mag. vol. xhii. 16) men- 
tion is made of his " house in May Fair." This may have been his resi- 
dence before he went to George Street. In 1744 we find, from a letter 
of Lord Orrery (May 19), that he accommodated Mallet and his wife 
with a chamber in his house in Duke Street, Westminster, on their 
coming to London for a night or two. 



46 



MEMOIR OF DAVID MALLET. 



into Latin verse by Vincent Bourne. His Life of Bacon, 
Amyntor and Theodora, and The Excursion, have been 
translated into French. 

The character of Mallet has been variously represented 
by his friends and by his enemies.* It may be that, owing- 
to the prejudices of Johnson, and the envy of some of his 
contemporaries, an impartial judgment of him has not been 
formed. According- to Hill,f who knew him well, his 
manners were as amiable as his abilities were respectable. 
With Young*, Pope, Thomson, and Lyttelton he lived on 
terms of familiar intimacy. To Gibbon his friendly advice 
was afforded on several occasions. With his own country- 
men many of his most intimate connections were formed. 
It is stated by Theophilus Gibber, % that " when Thomson 
arrived in London, it was his immediate care to wait on 
Mr. Mallet, who then lived in Hanover Square, in the 
character of tutor to his Grace the Duke of Montrose, and 
his late brother Lord George Graham." " Mr. Mallet," it 
is further observed, " was his quondam schoolfellow,§ but 

* See Gentleman's Mag. vol. lxi. 1180, — vol. lxxv. 56, 219 ; European 
Mag. vol. xliii. 16 ; Monthly Review, vol. x. 388, — vol. xxviii. 68 ; Church- 
hill's Prophecy of Famine, 1763; Letter from Alex. Wedderburn to D. 
Hume, Paris, 28th Oct. 1764 ; North Briton, No. 34 ; Annual Register, 
1766, vol. ix. 291 (Note) ; The Race, by C. Shaw, 1776 (Whittingham's 
British Poets, vol. lxiii. 85); Boswell's Life of Johnson, vol. ii. 184; 
Disraeli's Miscellanies of Literature (London, 1840), pp.176, 200-204; 
Southey's Specimens of the Later English Poets, vol. ii. 342 ; Hone's 
Table Booh, vol. ii. col. 110 ; Burton's Life of David Hume, vol. ii. 140- 
144. 

+ See Aaron Hill's Works, 2d edition (1754), vol. i. 110, and several 
other passages in Hill's Letters; also vol. iv. 72, and Preface to 
Merope. Also Cibber's Lives of the Poets, vol. v. 273, 4. 

X Lives of the Poets. 

§ Meaning probably his fellow-student at the University of Edin- 
burgh. 






HEMOIB OF DAVID MALLET. 47 

much his junior. They contracted an early intimacy, 
which improved with their years; nor was it ever once 
disturbed by any casual mistake, envy, or jealousy on either 
side."* " Some of his letters/' says Campbell, " in the 
earlier part of his life, express an interest and a friend- 
ship for the poet Thomson which do honour to his lieart."f 

William Falconer, the author of The Shipwreck, was 
intimately connected with him.i He had also an adherent 
in Smollett, who engaged him to write in the Critical 
Review. David Hume, another of his countrymen, who 
was very anxious to subject his style to the critical eye of 
Mallet, in order that he might mark those expressions 
which appeared Scotticisms, confesses his extreme obliga- 
te him for his kindness, which, indeed, the historian 
seems not to have deserved. § 

" His behaviour to Pope after bis death has drawn 
upon him the universal accusation of ingratitude ; but if 
he had not virtue, or had not spirit to refuse the office 
assigned him by Bolingbroke, it ought to be remembered 
that Pope was not innocent, and that he bad some depend- 
ence on the favour of Bolingbroke. He is said to have 
adopted the peculiar sentiments of his patron with regard 

* See Gibber, vol. v. 194; Spence's Anecdotes, by S. W. Singer (1820), 
p. 327; Thomson's Poetical Works, edited by Jas. Nichols (1849), p. L. 

-j- " This man, one of the oppressed race of the Macgregors, and the 
son of the keeper of a small public-house in an obscure clachan, be- 
friended by the house of Graham, rose to distinction and influence, and 
used both in the cause of literature ; and used them, too, with good 
sense, as well as good feeling." (Allan Gunningham's Life of Thomson, 
Thomson's Seasons, London, 1S41.) 

X See Dr. Clarke's Memoir of Falconer, and Notes to The Ship- 
wreck. 

§ See Burton's Life of D. Hume, vol. ii. 3, 143. 



48 MEMOIR OF DAVID MALLET. 

to religion- but of this there is no better evidence than 
the publication of his posthumous works, in which he seems 
to have acted from considerations of gain rather than zeal 
for the propagation of his opinions. His integrity in busi- 
ness and in life is unimpeached." * 

The poetic fame of Mallet rests on his ballads, and 
chiefly on his William and Margaret. " As a poet, 
though he may not be altogether secure from the objections 
of the critic, he has very little to fear from the strictest 
moral or religious censure; his works are not only the 
productions of a genius truly poetical, but they are friendly 
to the best interests of morality and liberty; they inspire 
virtue, truth, and patriotism, and inculcate the necessity 
of goodness to the present and future happiness of man- 
kind. His compositions are characterised by elegance of 
diction and correctness of judgment, rather than vigour of 
expression or sublimity of sentiment, neither of which are" 
wanting."! 

" In stature," says Dr. Johnson, " Mallet was diminu- 
tive, but he was regularly formed; and his appearance, 
till he grew corpulent, was agreeable ; and he suffered it to 

* Dr. Anderson's Life of Mallet. 

f Dr. Anderson's Life of Mallet. See Boswell's Life of Johnson (1835, 
10 vols.), vol. iii. 276. In an " Essay on the Stage ; or, the Art of Act- 
ing : a Poem" (Edinburgh, 1754), p. 19, are the following lines : 

" Oh, for a genius by the muse inspir'd, 
Warm to delight, by tragic greatness fir'd ; 
Bless'd with a Mallet's strength, the taste of Hill, 
Rowe's stealing softness, and a Dryden's skill, — 
Oh, could these stores enrich one human mind ! 
By Otway's nature, Thomson's sweetness join'd; 
Or for each muse, like daring Congreve, fit, 
With Vanbrugh's sprightliness, and Cibber's wit." 



MEMOIR OF DAVID MALLET. 49 

want no recommendation that dress could give it.* His 
conversation was elegant and easy.f The rest of his cha- 
racter may, without injury to his memory , sink into 
silence." 

"This last observation cannot be generally allowed; 
his gratitude to Mr. Ker, his kindness to his brother, his 
services to Hill J and Thomson, his beneficence to Derrick^ 

* " We spent an evening- last week with Mallet, who is grown to an 
enormous size, exactly the shape of a barrel, but looks well, and eats 
and drinks more than you ever saw him. G-. Scott was there, just the 
same man ; none of them changed but Mallet, — a most thorough cour- 
tier. He has got a French cook, who dresses dishes they admire, but 
which Mrs. Millar nor I could not taste. They, with other company, 
spend this day with us ; but I shall entertain, I think, with better Eng- 
lish disches. George's stomach is as good as ever for roast beef, and a 
noble digestion. As to Mallet, he talks for ever, and well ; but he never 
will do Marlbro's life, nor, I believe, any thing else. He seems to be 
quite easy without his wife, with his daughter Bell, who has just as 
much sincerity as himself." (Extract from a letter of Andrew Millar 
to A. Mitchell, Esq., May 4, 1764. Additional Mss. 6858, fol. 30, in 
British Museum.) 

f "1 have seldom met with a man whose colloquial ability exceeded 
that of Mallet." (Johnson.) 

+ See A. Hill's Works for his correspondence with Mallet, vols. i. ii. 

§ "Mr. Mallet presents his compliments to Dr. Birch. The bearer 
of this note, Mr. Derrick, is engaged in making a new edition of 
Dryden's poems for Mr. Tonson. He is at a loss about several names 
of persons and pamphlets, and believes he may have better information 
on those heads from Dr. Birch than from any other man living. If the 
Doctor can fux-nish him with any lights for his edition, Mr. Mallet will 
look upon this act of friendship as done to himself. Dec. 26, 1757." 

See Letter to Derrick, Dec. 18, 1760, Nichols' Literary Anecdotes, 
vol. ii. 371. Derrick's Letters, 2 vols. 1767. 

Another instance of his friendly disposition occurs in the following 
letter : 

" Dear Sir, — That I have not troubled you with my letters since 
you left England has been owing entirely to yourself. You did not 
desire my correspondence. But my esteem for you has ever been inva- 
i-iably the same ; and no one among your friends has felt a more sincere 
concern for the late bad state of your health. 



50 MEMOIR OF DAVID MALLET. 

and his exemplary tenderness in the discharge of the rela- 
tive duties of husband and parent, command our esteem 
for his character, and confer a lasting honour on his 
memory."* 



I could not refuse Lord Carysfort, one of the present Commis- 
sioners of the Admiralty, this letter to you in favour of the bearer, Mr. 
Wolrich. I therefore intreat for him the advantage of your counte- 
nance and protection, while he remains at Berlin. He is greatly con- 
cerned in the woollen manufacture at Leeds : and though he says his 
journey through Germany is only a jaunt of pleasure, you may find per- 
haps that it is difficult for a man of business totally to lay aside all 
thoughts of it. If he has any thing on that head to propose for the 
good of his country, he cannot address himself to a better judge nor a 
more favourable advocate. 

News there is none stirring here of any kind ; for I natter myself 
you will, think it none, when I assure you that I am, with the greatest 
truth and regard, dear Sir, 

Your most faithful servant, 

D. Mallet." 

(D. Mallet to Andrew Mitchell, Esq. Additional Mas. 6858, fol. 26, in 
British Museum.) 
* Dr. Anderson. 




EXTRACTS FROM KIRK-SESSION REGISTERS. 



From the Kirk-Session Register, Crieff. 
PEOCLAMATIONS OF BANNS. 

1701. June 1. Charles Malloch and Alison M'Robie, both parishioners. 

1704. July 29. Donald Malloch and Isabel Cowan, both parishioners. 

1708. June 27. Donald Malloch, in this parish, and Margaret Glass, in Och- 
terarder. 

BAPTISMS. 

1702. Mar. 9. James, son to Charles Malloch, in Crieff, at Monzie. 

1703. Apr. 18. Thomas, son to Charles Malloch, in Pitengie. 

1705. May 13. Helen, daughter to Donald Malloch, in Crieff. 

1708. Dec. 29. John, son to Charles Malloch, in Pitengie. 

1709. Dec. 25. Patrick, son to Donald Malloch, in Milnab. 
1712. Jan. 27. Mary, daughter to Charles Malloch, in Pitengie. 

„ Feb. 10. David, son to Donald Malloch. 
1715. Apr. 10. Alexander, son to Charles Malloch, in Pitengie. 
1719. Jan. 25. Mary, daughter to Donald Malloch, in Crieff. 



From the Kirk-Session Register, Foulis Wester. 
The Mallochs and Cocks were two predominant clans here before and after 
the birth of the poet. The Mallochs resided chiefly at Glen Tulchan ; the Cocks 
resided, and do still, at Auld Foulis. 

PROCLAMATIONS AND MARRIAGES. 

Donald Malloch and Margaret Ewan were married June 23, 1688. 

Alexander Roy and Mary Malloch proclaimed for the third and last time, 
Dec. 10, 1699. 

John Malloch and Helen Marshall were proclaimed for the third and last 
time, Sabbath, Dec. 17, 1721. 

Mungo Malloch and Janet Gilbert were proclaimed for the third and last time, 
Sabbath, Nov. 18, 1722. 

Donald Malloch, elder, was chosen box-master, and had the keys delivered to 
him, Dec. 8, 1721. 

BAPTISMS. 
Donald Malloch had a son called David, baptised July 3, 1686. 
Donald Malloch had a daughter called Christian, baptised Oct. 19, 1688. 
Donald Malloch had a child called Andrew, baptised June 23, 1700. 
Patrick Malloch had a child called Donald, baptised July 27, 1701. 
Andrew Malloch had a daughter called Christian, baptised Dec. 24, 1701. 
Donald Malloch had a child called Christian, baptised Jan. 28, 1705. 
Andrew Malloch had a child called Helen, baptised March 4, 1705. 
Patrick Malloch had a child called Patrick, baptised Oct. 20, 1706. 
John, son to John Malloch, son-in-law to John Marshall, baptised May 27, 1722. 
Margaret, daughter to Donald Malloch, baptised May 1, 1724. 
Margaret, daughter to John Malloch, baptised March 1, 1726. 
Janet, daughter to Mungo Malloch, baptised Aug. 14, 1726. 
Barbara, daughter to Mungo Malloch, baptised March 19, 1738. 
Helen, daughter to James Malloch, baptised Sept. 10, 1738. 
Ann, daughter to Donald Malloch, baptised June 7, 1739. 






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Dorothy* = — Celesia. 



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Extracts from the Registers of the Parish of Chiswich. 
Aug. 9, 1735. Charles, son of David and Susanj Mallet, baptised. 
Oct. 11, 1738. Dorothy,! daughter of David and Susannaf Mallet, baptised. 
1741. Jan. 28. o.s. Mrs. Susanna Mallet buried. 



AFFIDAVIT. 

{Extracted from the Registry of the Diocese of London.) 

"1st October, 1742. 
" Appeared personally David Mallet, of the Parish of Chiswick, in the County 
of Middlesex, Widower, and alledged that he intends to marry with Lucy Elstob, 
of the Parish of St. George, Hanover Square, in the said County, Spinster, aged 
twenty-six years ; and that he knoweth of no lawfull Lett or Impediment, by 
reason of any pre-contract, consanguinity, affinity, or any other lawful means 
whatsoever, to hinder the said intended marriage ; of the truth of which he made 
Oath, and prayed a Licence to solemnize the said Marriage in the Parish Church 
of St. Andrew, Holborn, London. 

" D. Mallet. 



Sworn before me, 
" Kobt. Chapman, Surrogate." 



Jno. Shephaed, Dy.-Registrar. 



* Thomson, in a letter to Mallet, dated 9th August 1745, speaks of his having met "two 
servants of yours, along with charming little Dolly, who told me of the increase of your 
family." 

t First wife of the poet. There is no tahlet in the church, or stone in the churchyard, to 
any of the family. 

X Afterwards the wife of Signor Celesia. She signs herself "Dorothea Celesia." This form 
of Christian name seems to have been used before her marriage. A correspondent of Mallet, in 
1752, refers to his three daughters as " the three Graces, Dorothea, Lucinda, and Arabella." 
Lord Orrery was sponsor to Lucy, the eldest daughter by the second marriage, Sept. 17-13. 



WILL OF DAVID MALLET. 

I David Mallet, Esquire, do make my last Will and Testa- 
ment this 20th day of June 1755, in manner following : I give 
all my real and personal estate to my wife Lucy Mallet, her 
heirs, executors, and administrators : And I constitute her 
Guardian of all my children, and sole Executrix of this my 
Will. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand, 

D. Mallet. 

Signed, published, and declared by the 
above-named testator, as and for his 
last will and testament, in the pre- 
sence of us who, at his request, do 
subscribe our names in his presence, 
and in the presence of each other. 

William Bassett. 

Thomas Whistons. 

William Collins. 

Proved at London, 8th May 1765, before the Worshipful 
Arthur Collier, Doctor of Laws and Surrogate, by the oath of 
Lucy Mallet, Widow, the Relict, the sole Executrix, to whom 
Administration was granted, having been first sworn duly to 
administer.* 




* From the Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury. 
The original will is written in a clear legible hand, on one page of a 
sheet of quarto paper. It is in Mallet's own hand- writing, and is in 
fainter ink than the signatures of the testator and the witnesses. The 
crest and motto of the seal are those of the clan Macgregor. 

No portrait of Mallet is supposed to exist. 



WILL OF DAVID MALLET. 55 

In March 1766 Mallet's library was sold by auction. A 
copy of the catalogue was sold in June 1852, and is now in the 
Bodleian Library, Oxford. It is thus described : 

" A Catalogue of the Library of David Mallet, Esq., lately 
deceased, containing a very good Collection of Books in various 
languages ; and a curious Collection of old Plays, and many 
scarce black-letter Books and Manuscripts. To which are 
added a Collection of curious Turkish, Persick, and Arabick 
Manuscripts, with a large number of Roman Missales, many of 
them very finely illuminated, consign'd from abroad. Which 
wil be sold by auction by Samuel Baker, at his house in York- 
Steet, Covent Garden, beginning on Monday, March the 10th, 
17(6, and to continue the six following evenings. To begin 
each evening at six o'clock. N.B. The books may be viewed 
on Thursday the 6th, and to the time of sale. Catalogues may 
be iad of the following Booksellers : Mr. Dodsley's, Pall Mall ; 
Mr. Robson's, Bond Street ; Mr. Walter's, Charing Cross ; Mr. 
Brctherton's, Cornhill ; Mr. Owen's, Temple Bar ; and at the 
pla<e of sale, N.B. There are some very good Port Folios to 
be K)ld in the sixth night's sale." 

Such is the catalogue of Mallet's books, an 8vo of 38 pages ; 
thefirst six evenings containing 938 lots, including 10 lots of 
poi;folios, and the seventh 103 lots of Mss. and Missals. Pro- 
bally Mallet's library was comprised in the first 938. The col- 
lecion was that of a good gentleman's library; there was 
nea-ly a perfect set of the Variorum Classics, many of the quarto 
Dephins, the best dictionaries, a fair sprinkling of English 
am foreign history, several of the old standard Voyages and 
Tiwels, and not a few valuable French and Italian books. But 
tht portion which, at the present time, would have attracted 
th< greatest notice is the Old Plays, and several black-letter 
bo)ks and curious Mss. Among them may be enumerated 
Ganmer Gurton's Needle (black letter), 1575 ; Massinger's 



56 



WILL OF DAVID MALLET. 



Plays, collected in 2 vols. ; Shirley's in 6 vols. ; Glapthorne's, 
Hey wood's, Webster's ; The Three Ladies of London, 1584 ; 
the whole works of George Gascoigne, complete and very fair, 
1587 ; forty-nine volumes of pamphlets, 4to., between 1600 
and 1655 ; Dives and Pauper, by W. de Worde, 1496 ; Hig- 
den's Polychronicon, by Caxton ; Chaucer, by Robert Toyej 
various English Bibles, now of great rarity ; and King Edward 
VI. 's Common Prayer, 1549. Among the Mss. are a large col- 
lection of original papers by and relating to Dr. Bentley ; ihe 
Four Gospels turned into English verse, by Robert Parkyn, 
curate of Aithwicke, original Ms. dated 1548 ; WiclifFe's Npw 
Testament ; and others, which would in these days have pro- 
duced large prices. There are two lots which it would be veil 
to trace if possible, and add to Gough's collections in the Bod- 
leian : Gunton's History of the Church of Peterborough, with 
Ms. notes by Bishop Cumberland (No. 905) ; and Bishop Cijm- 
berland's State of the Accounts of the Bishoprick of Peter- 
borough from 1693 to 1706 (No. 837). No. 914 is also a ks. 
on an interesting subject : " Gesta Britannica praesertim ln- 
glorum, adjectis aliquot observationibus, maxime in iis qua ad 
ecclesiam spectant." 



WILL OF LUCY MALLET. 

In the name of onely God whom I adore ! I Lucy Mallet now 
living at Paris in the Rue des Champs Elizes having my head 
clear and my memory as good as ever do make this my last 
Will and Testament in form and manner following : viz. I con- 
stitute and appoint Andrew Lumisden Esquire and Andrew 
Strange Esquire his nephew [executors] of this my last Will, 
having full confidence in their friendship and integrity. Item 
I leave to my Daughter Arabella Williams my money in the 
funds for her life and at her death to the Descendants of my 
aunt Herk in the same manner which my late sister has left 
hers at the death of Mrs Williams. Item I leave to my faithful 
servant Elizabeth Stowers whose integrity, attachment, I may 
add friendship I have had proofs of for 31 years in my service, 
my Landed Estate lying near Malton in Yorkshire amounting 
to forty-two pounds per annum a little more or less for her 
natural life to be paid to her or to her order in two half yearly 
payments as it shall become due, wheresoever she choses to live. 
I will that my Wardrobe and household linen be divided be- 
tween Madame De Flury who was with my Daughter Lucy 
Macgregor and with me during my imprisonment and is still 
with me on condition she remains with me till my death, and 
my servant Elizabeth Stowers in such portions as my executors 
shall judge just, Stowers having the choice of my Gowns in 
equal number with Madame de Flury. All that shall be due to 
me for Interest at my death shall be paid by my Executors to 
Stowers to enable her to live till she can receive the Malton 
rents she having saved very little during the thirty-one years 
in my service having always had the greatest [confidence] in 



58 WILL OF LUCY MALLET. 

my Justice, nor did she ever desire any thing under my hand 
for having quitted Father Mother and Country, not so much as 
a promise. In case of the death of the said Elizabeth Stowers 
I leave the revenue of the Land above mentioned to Andrew 
Lumisden Esquire one of my Executors and on his death to his 
nephew Andrew Strange Esquire for ever. I also leave to the 
said Mr Lumisden Lord Bolingbroke's Works with the Biblio- 
teque where they are, also my Bureau of Mahogany, and all my 
Books between the Uncle and the Nephew ; also any part of my 
furniture they shall judge worth their acceptance and what 
little plate shall be found at my death, for I have been obliged 
to sell the most part on my being released out of prison, to pay 
my debts. I will have nothing sold so that such of my furni- 
ture and china as is below the acceptance of my said Executors, 
they will please to divide amongst Madame de Flury and my 
Cook Maid Mary Helfere and her husband if they are in my 
service at my death, giving all the best and the linning entirely 
between Madame de Flury and Elizabeth Stowers, in case the 
former is in my service at my death if not all to the above 
named Elizabeth Stowers. Debts I have none at present, and 
will so manage as to leave none at my death, and there will 
always be due to me at my death six months of my annuities 
on the [Rentes (?)] of Soubise and on the Hotel De Ville as they 
pay only the half year when the whole year is due ; the first is 
Six thousand livers yearly and the latter three thousand two 
hundred livers Tournois, which my Executors or which of them 
shall come hither for my affairs have occasion, I authorise them 
by this Will to take as also to lodge in my apartment during 
their or his abode here. In case (which I hope she is wiser 
than to do) my Daughter Arabella Williams should dispute any 
thing in this my Will or attempt to give trouble to my above 
named Executors or to Elizabeth Stowers, I authorise the said 
Executors to file a Bill in Chancery for the recovery of the 



WILL OF LUCY MALLET. 59 

other half of my land near Malton, left her very unjustly by my 
Sister, who had no right so to do, as it devolved to me at the 
death of my said Sister as my Mother inherited it at the death 
of her Sister in quality of their being Coheiresses, but as she 
left it to my Daughter I would not dispute such a trifle at my 
age, but my said Executors are Masters to act as Mrs. Williams 
shall make it necessary by opposing any part of this my Will. 
I declare this to be my last Will and Testament. All written 
with my own hand undirected by mortal as also not seen or 
read to any being, so that what faults may be found are all my 
own, and what other wills may be found or forged, shall be of 
no effect. In testimony of which I hereunto set my hand and 
seal this nineteenth of June 1795, in the presence of 

Jno. Trumbull Lucy Elstob 

John Mosley 

M. Leavenworth 

Proved at London 20th October 1795 before the Worshipful 
George Harris Doctor of Laws and Surrogate by the oath of 
Andrew Lumisden Esquire one of the Executors to whom 
administration was granted having been first sworn duly to ad- 
minister. Power reserved of making the like Grant to Andrew 
Strange Esquire the other Executor when he shall apply for the 
same.* 

Sworn under 100?. 

* From the Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury. 
The original will is written on a quarto sheet of gilt-edged letter-paper, 
and is all in the same handwriting, and appears to have been written 
and signed at one time. There are some omissions and interlineations. 
The writing is large and legible. It will be remarked that the testatrix 
signs her maiden name at the foot of the will. 

{Facsimile of the signature at the foot of the Will.) 



60 WILL OF LUCY MALLET, 

Mrs. Mallet died at Paris on the 17th September 1795. 
The house in which she died (No. 9 Rue des Champs Elysees) 
was pulled down in 1839, and another dwelling occupies the 
site. Her age was given on the very day, or the day after, she 
died, to the Paris authorities as seventy-nine, such being the 
testimony of the two persons who reported her death at the 
Hotel de Ville. As to the place of her burial, there is great 
uncertainty. There were formerly three cemeteries : 1. Du 
Nord, called also Sous-Montmartre ; 2. Vaugirard ; 3. Cla- 
mart. From the residence of Mrs. Mallet, it is probable that 
she was buried in the first of these three. In 1795, the burials 
took place within Paris ; but these burial-grounds no longer 
exist as such, having been converted into public squares. 

Mrs. Mallet had been imprisoned during the Revolution, 
and had been obliged to part with her plate. The French paid 
her annuities, but in depreciated Assignats. She had a small 
estate in Yorkshire, in coparcenary with her elder sister, of 
about 200?. a-year. She died in perfect possession of her facul- 
ties, which were excellent. - 



PREFECTURE DU DEPARTEMENT DE LA SEINE. 

Extrait du Registre des Actes de Deces du premier Arrondisse- 
ment de Paris pour Van 3. 

Du premier jour complementaire, an trois, acte de deces de 
Lucie Elstob arrive le jour d'avant hier, a dix heures du matin, 
rentiere agee de soixante-dix-neuf ans, native de l'Angleterre, 
domiciliee a Paris, rue des Champs Elysees No. 9, veuve de 
David Mallet. 

Sur la requisition a nous faite dans les vingt-quatre heures 



WILL OF LUCY MALLET. 61 

par Pierre Heifer, age de trente-neuf ans, rentier domicilie a 
Paris sus dite rue et numero, le declarant a dit etre de la con- 
naissance de la decedee, et par Jean Francois Bloquet, age de 
soixante-quatre ans, portier domicilie a Paris sus dite rue et 
numero, le declarant a dit etre voisin de la definite. 

(Signe) Helfre, Bloquet, et Gillerotjd. 

Andrew Lumisden, Esq.,* one of her executors, died in 
1801, above eighty years of age. He was secretary to Prince 
Charles Edward in 1745-46, and afterwards to his father and 
himself at Rome, from 1750 to 1766. His nephew, the other 
executor, was Thomas Andrew Lumisden Strange, second son 
of Sir Robert Strange. He was chief -justice at Halifax, and 
afterwards went to Madras and was knighted. He was chief- 
justice there for many years, and afterwards resided in England, 
and died in 1841. 

* See account of him, and portrait, in Europ. Mag, vol. xxxiv. 3 ; 
also Dennistoun's Life of Sir R. Strange, 1855. 



ELSTOB FAMILY. 



It is probable that Lewis Elstob, the father of Mrs. Mallet, 
was a native of the county of Northumberland. It does not 
appear that he was at all related to the famous Anglo-Saxon 
scholars of the name, who were natives of Newcastle-on-Tyne.* 

Lewis Elstob was possessed of considerable property in 
Morpeth. One-half of it was conveyed to John Fenwick of 
Morpeth, on May 10, 1736, by " Jane Elstob of Wigginthorpe, 
spinster, one of the daughters and co-heirs of Lewis Elstob of 
Wigginthorpe, Esq., deceased." On the 6th June 1738 the 
other half of the property was conveyed to the same purchaser 
by " Lucy Elstob of Rippon, spinster, one of the daughters 
and co-heiresses of Lewis Elstob of Wigginthorpe, Esq., de- 
ceased." This property is now in the possession of A. R. 
Fenwick, Esq. 

It has been stated, that Lewis Elstob had been Envoy or 
other Minister at Copenhagen. It appears that in 1716, and 
for some years afterwards, he was agent for Lord Carlisle's 
Northumberland estates, and that he was appointed, in 1732 
(being then resident at Wiganthorpe), one of two joint-receivers 
of the rents of the late Earl of Derwent water's estates, t 

He died 1733, October 11th, and was buried October 15th.* 

* See pedigree of Elstob family down to 1710, drawn up by Miss 
Elstob, in the British Museum. 

f Gentleman's Mag. vol. ii. 827. 

X Terrington Parish Eegister. The burial of his wife Elizabeth 
Elstob is not found in the Parish Register. 




p^> 



rtr 



ELSTOB FAMILY. 63 

A mural marble monument in a side aisle of Terrington 
Church bears the following inscription : 

"In memory of Lewis Elstob of Elstob, Esq., and Eliza- 
beth his wife, who lie here interr'd. She died March 8th, 
1728,* aged 46 years. He died October 11th, 1733, aged 64 
years. Leaving by his said wife two daughters, Jane and Lucy, 
who caused this monument to be erected, 1735." 

Underneath is a large flat stone, with the simple inscrip- 
tion, "Lewis Elstob, Esq." 

On the death of Lewis Elstob, his daughter Jane was ap- 
pointed guardian of her younger sister Lucy. 

In 1757 her name first appears in the rate-books of St. 
George's, Hanover Square, in the list of residents in Conduit 
Street. Her predecessor was Mrs. Anna Maria Hopkins. The 
name above Miss Elstob's is ' Mr. Simon Parry ;' that below, is 
' Francis Carey.' In the list of names under Conduit Street Miss 
Elstob's is No. 42, there being 63 in all. Her name con- 
tinues in the rate-books up to 1779, the year of her death. 
In that year we find the following names : 

****** 
James Dansil, Esq. 
Jane Elstob. 
William Dufrene. 



Miss Elstob's acquaintance with Robert Waller,f M.P. for 
Chipping Wycombe, one of her executors, may account for her 
wishing to be buried at Beaconsfield. The place of her inter- 
ment, it is surmised, was in the chancel or church. 

* 1728-9. 

f It is probable that this Robert Waller was great-grandson of the 
poet. His country residence, in 1779, was at Huggingdon House, near 
Chipping Wycombe ; his town residence, in Half-Moon Street. 

F 



64 WILL OF LEWIS ELSTOB. 

ELSTOB PEDIGREE* 
. . . Elstob. 



Lewis — Elizabeth Elizabeth = . . . Wilburt. Anne = Stephen Frances = . . . Watson. 



Harrison. 



Jane. Lucy = David Mallet. 



Hick of 
Malton. 



Walter = 



I I I 

Martha = . . . Hall. Anne. Lewis 
mar. in 1765. 



Alice, Elizabeth = Rt. Hedley, Alderman, 

died a spinster. of Newcastle. 



WILL OF LEWIS ELSTOB. 
{Extracted from the Registry of the Prerogative Court of York.) 

In the name of God Amen I Lewis Elstob of Wigenthorpe in 
the County of Yorke Esquire being mindfull off my Mortality 
Do make this my last Will and Testament in manner following 
(that is to say) As for and concerneing all such Reall and Per- 
sonall Estate as it shall please God to permitt me to dye seized 
or possessed of or Intituled unto either in possession or rever- 
sion I give devise and bequeath the same unto the Right 
Honourable Charles Earle of Carlisle John Idle of the Middle 
Temple London Esquire and Richard Woolfe of Lincolns Inn 
in the County of Middlesex Gentleman their heires executors 
and administrators upon trust in the first place for the pay- 
ment of my just debts legacys Funerall Charges as also of the 
Probate of this my Will and of the execution and performance 
thereof and for the uses intents and purposes hereafter men- 
coned Item I give and bequeath unto the said Earle of Car- 
* This pedigree rests in part on conjecture. 



WILL OF LEWIS ELSTOB. 65 

lisle John Idle and Richard Woolfe the sume of Ten Guineas a 
piece for mourning Item I give to my three Sisters Elizabeth 
Wilburt Ann Hick and Frances Watson the sume of Fifty 
pounds a piece to be paid them respectively within one year 
next after my decease provided they give and execute unto the 
said Earl of Carlisle John Idle and Richard Woolfe good and 
sufficient releases and discharges of all claimes and demands 
in to or out of my Reall and Personall Estate and such of my 
said Sisters who shall refuse so to do to Forfeite their or her 
said Legacy or Legacys Item I give unto my dear Wife 
Elizabeth Elstob the sume of One Hundred Pounds per annum 
dureing her naturall life to be paid her halfe yearly by two 
equall payments in the year viz. at Lady Day and Michaelmas 
without taxes or other deductions whatsoever The first pay- 
ment whereof to begin and to be made on such of the said days 
as shall first happen next after my decease which One Hundred 
Pounds per annum my minde and will is shall be in full of all 
claimes and demands on account of her dower or thirds or 
otherwise she has or may have in to or out of my Reall or Per- 
sonall Estates And my minde and will is that the said One 
Hundred Pounds per annum be paid out of the Rents Issues 
and profitts of my Reall Estate But in case my Reall Estate 
shall not be sufficient to answer and pay the same that then 
such deficiency shall be paid and made good out of my personall 
estate And that it shall and may be lawful to and for the 
said Earle of Carlisle John Idle and Richard Woolfe and the 
survivor of them and the heires of such survivor to retaine out 
of my personall estate sufficient to make up the said deficiency 
and to putt out the same at interest in their names or in the 
name of the survivor of them or the heires of such survivor 
And my minde and will is that if any loss shall happen in the 
placeing out the same that such loss shall not fall on my Wife 
but shall be made up and bore out of my personall estate 



66 



WILL OF LEWIS ELSTOB. 



And subject as aforesaid I do hereby give and bequeath my 
personall estate and the Interest and Improvement thereof 
unto my daughters Jane Elstob and Lucy Elstob to be equally 
divided between them and paid at their respective ages of 
Twenty-one yeares or days of marriage which shall first happen 
And in case either of them shall happen to dye before such age 
or marriage then I do give the same unto the survivor of 
them payable at her age of Twenty-one yeares or day of mar- 
riage which shall first happen And in case both of them shall 
happen to dye before such age or marriage then I do hereby 
desire and will if my said Wife be then liveing that the said 
Earle of Carlisle John Idle and Richard Woolfe and the sur- 
vivor of them and the heires of such survivor shall pay the 
Interest and produce thereof unto my said Wife dureing the 
terme of her naturall life But if my said Wife shall not be 
then liveing or upon the death of my said Wife I give and 
bequeath my said personall estate unto my Nephew Walter 
Hick Item I likewise give unto my said Wife One Hundred 
Pounds to be paid imediately after my decease for mourne- 
ing for herself e and servants And subject as aforesaid my 
minde and will is as to my reall estate that the said Earle 
of Carlisle John Idle and Richard Woolfe and the survivor 
of them and the heires of such survivor shall stand and be 
seized thereof to the use of my said Daughters their heires 
and assignes for ever as Tennants in common and not as joynt 
Tennants But in case either of my said Daughters shall happen 
to depart this life before her age of Twenty-one yeares leaving 
no Issue that then the said Earle of Carlisle John Idle and 
Richard Woolfe and the survivor of them and the heires of 
such survivor shall stand and be seized of my Reall estate to 
the use of the survivor of my said Daughters and her heires for 
ever And in case both of them shall dye before the age of 
Twenty-one yeares leaving no issue that then the said Earle of 



WILL OF LEWIS ELSTOB. 67 

Carlisle John Idle and Richard Woolfe and the survivor of 
them and the heires of such survivor shall stand and be seized 
of my Reall estate to the uses following (that is to say) upon 
trust to pay the yearly rents and profitts thereof in case my 
said Wife be then liveing to my said Wife for and during her 
naturall life but in case she be then dead or upon her death 
in trust for my said Nephew Walter Hick his heires and 
assignes for ever And my minde and will is that in case the 
rents and profitts of my reall estate be more than sufficient to 
answer and pay the said yearly rent charge of One Hundred 
Pounds per annum that then such surplus rents and profitts 
shall till my said Daughters attaine their ages of Twenty-one 
yeares or be marryed or dye which shall first happen be deemed 
and taken as part of my personall estate Item my minde and 
will is that the said Earle of Carlisle John Idle and Richard 
Woolfe shall out of my personall estate and the surplus if any 
of my said reall estate pay and be allowed what they or any 
two of them shall thinke fitt to pay or allow for the main- 
tenance and education of my said Daughters till they attaine 
their respective ages of Twenty-one yeares or be marryed 
Item my mind and will also is that the said Earle of Carlisle 
John Idle and Richard Woolfe do retaine and be allowed in 
the first place out of my said estates their expences and also 
for their paines and trouble or any other deductions or defal- 
cations that may happen in or about the trusts of this my Will 
which they or any of them shall be at and expend and shall 
not be liable to give any account of or for any my estate or 
estates But only for so much thereof as they or any of them 
shall personally and respectively actually receive and that none 
of them shall be answerable for the act or acts of the other of 
them And if any loss shall happen in or to my estate or 
estates or any part or parts thereof by calling in or placing out 
or lending the same by the said Earle of Carlisle John Idle and 



68 WILL OF LEWIS ELSTOB. 

Richard Woolfe or any of them their or any of their heires execu- 
tors or administrators so as the same be done with the consent 
of each other then I will that the said Earle of Carlisle John 
Idle and Richard Woolfe and every of them their and each 
of their heires executors and administrators shall be acquitted 
and discharged of and from such loss and shall not be liable 
to make good the same And I do make the said Earle of 
Carlisle John Idle and Richard Woolfe Executors of this my 
Will and do hereby revoak and make void all former Wills by 
me at any time heretofore made In Witness whereof I the said 
Lewis Elstob have to this my last Will and Testament con- 
tained in one sheet of paper set my name with my owne hand 
at the topp of the two first sides and also on the third side 
over against my seal thereon affixed this nineteenth day of 
November one thousand seven hundred and twenty-six. 

Lewis Elstob ( L. S. J 

Signed sealed published and declared by the above named 
Lewis Elstob as and for his last Will and Testament in the 
presence of us who as witnesses of the same have at his request 
and in his presence subscribed our names as witnesses thereto 

h. w. osbaldeston mlchael jackson 

Cha. Sanderson 

This will was proved at York the 24th day of November 
1733 by the oath of Jane Elstob the Daughter to whom ad- 
ministration with the said Will annexed was granted she hav- 
ing been first sworn duly to administer (the Right Honourable 
Charles Earl of Carlisle John Idle Esquire and Richard Woolfe 
the Executors in the said Will named having renounced). 



69* 



APPOINTMENT OF JANE ELSTOB AS GUARDIAN OF 
HER SISTER, LUCY ELSTOB. 

{Extracted from the Registry of the Prerogative Court of York.) 

Prerogative November 1733 
The twenty-fourth day of the Month aforesaid Curation of 
the Person and Portion of Lucy Elstob a Minor aged seventeen 
years the natural and lawfull Daughter of Lewis Elstob Esquire 
late of Wigingthorpe in the Province of York deceased was 
granted to Jane Elstob her sister according to her voluntary 
election made before the Worshipfull Mark Brathwait Doctor 
of Laws our lawfull Surrogate and also being first before him 
sworn as the Law in that case requires (saving any other per- 
son's Right) and Bond is entered. 



Know all Men by these Presents That We Jane Elstob of 
Wigingthorpe in the County of York Spinster and Samuel 
Thompson of the same Yeoman do stand and are firmly bound- 
en and obliged unto the Worshipful William Ward Doctor of 
Laws Commissary and Keeper General of the Exchequer and 
Prerogative Court of the most Reverend Father in God Lance- 
lot by Divine Providence Lord Archbishop of York Primate of 
England and Metropolitan lawfully constituted in the Sum of 
Five Hundred Pounds of good and lawful Money of Great Bri- 
tain to be paid to the said Commissary or his true and lawful 
Attorney Executors Administrators or Assigns to which Pay- 
ment well and truly to be made We bind us and each of us 
jointly and severally for and in the whole our and each of our 



70* JA.NE ELSTOB, GUARDIAN OF LUCY ELSTOB. 

Heirs Executors and Administrators and every of them firmly 
by these Presents Sealed with our Seals 

Dated the twenty -fourth Day of the Month of November in 
the Year of our Lord One Thousand seven Hundred and thirty- 
three. 

The Condition of this Obligation is such That if the above 
bound Jane Elstob her Executors or Administrators and every 
or any of them do well and faithfully Educate and bring up 
Lucy Elstob a Minor aged seventeen years or thereabouts the 
natural and lawful Child of Lewis Elstob Esquire late of Wi- 
gingthorpe afores d in the Province of York Deceased with suf- 
ficient of Meat Drink Cloaths and all other Necessaries agree- 
able to her Condition or estate during her Minority and make 
a true and perfect Inventory of all and singular the Goods 
Chattels and Credits belonging to the said Child and Exhibit 
the same into the Registry of the Prerogative Court at York at 
or before the twenty -fourth Day of June next ensuing the Date 
hereof and also make or cause to be made a true and just Ac- 
count of the same when she shall be thereunto lawfully called 
and do also well and truly content satisfy and pay or cause to 
be well and truly contented satisfied and paid unto the said 
Lucy Elstob her Executors Administrators and Assigns all such 
filial or Child's Part and Portion Gifts Legacies and other per- 
sonal Estate and all other Rights Dues and Demands due or 
owing to her the said Lucy Elstob by the Death Last Will and 
Testament of her said late Father Deceased or otherwise when 
she shall accomplish the Age of One and Twenty Years be mar- 
ried or otherwise lawfully demand the same And moreover if 
need require enter into better Bond with more sufficient Sure- 
ties for performance of the premises as the Judge of the said 
Court for the time being shall think requisite and needful And 
lastly do save defend and harmless keep the above-named Com- 
missary and all his Officers and Ministers against all Persons by 



WILL OF JANE ELSTOB. 71* 

Reason of the Premises Then this present Obligation to be 
void and of none Effect or else to remain in full force and 
Virtue. 

J. Elstob 
Sealed and Delivered i 

in the Presence of J s ~\ 

Tho. Skepper Samuel Thompson ( l. S. j 

Sworn before D r Bra Em 1 eodem die \__^^ 




WILL OF JANE ELSTOB. 

I Jane Elstob of Conduit Street in the Liberty of Westminster 
do declare this to be my last Will and Testament I give and 
bequeath to Robert Waller Esquire Member of Parliament 
and to George Lewis Scott of Leicester Square in the Liberty 
aforesaid Esquire their respective executors and administrators 
All my Estate real and personal In trust that after payment of 
my funeral expences debts and legacies they my said Trustees 
shall pay the rents profits interest dividends or yearly produce 
arising from my said Estate to my Niece Arabella Williams for 
the term of her life excepting Nevertheless An Annuity of One 
hundred pounds which I hereby bequeath to my Niece Lucy 
Macgregor for the term of her life and excepting also an An- 
nuity of Thirty pounds which I hereby bequeath to Mary 
Greaves if she shall continue in my service to the time of my 
death And my Will is that the said Annuity of One hundred 
pounds shall be paid by half-yearly payments of Fifty pounds 
each to my Sister Lucy Mallet for the maintenance of her 
Daughter Lucy Macgregor aforesaid and that if she shall hap- 
pen to survive her mother my said Trustees shall then pay the 
said Annuity into such hands as they shall judge most fit for 



72* WILL OF JANE ELSTOB. 

the maintenance of the said Lucy Macgregor Also my Will is 
that the said Annuity of Thirty pounds shall be paid to Mary 
Greaves aforesaid by equal half-yearly payments And my Will 
further is that if my said Niece Arabella should happen to die 
without issue my Trustees shall then pay the whole produce 
of my said Estate excepting the said Two Annuities of One 
hundred pounds and of Thirty pounds to my said Sister Lucy 
Mallet for her own use and for the term of her life But if my 
said Niece Arabella shall happen to leave a Child or Children 
my Will is that the produce of my Estate excepting always the 
two Annuities before mentioned shall be paid to the use of such 
child or children and in equal portions if there shall be more 
than one Child that is to such Child or to such children when 
he she or they shall have attained to their ages of Twenty-one 
years respectively And with regard to those who shall happen 
to be minors my Will is that my Trustees shall make such al- 
lowances as they shall think proper for their education and that 
the Overplus of their several portions if any shall be accumu- 
lated and paid to them severally upon their attaining to their 
respective ages of Twenty-one years and after the determina- 
tion of the Annuities payable to the use of the said Lucy Mac- 
gregor and to the said Mary Greaves my Trustees shall then 
convey and Transfer the whole of my Estate to such child or to 
such children in equal portions when he she or they shall have 
attained to their respective ages of Twenty-one years But if 
the said Arabella Williams should happen to survive her Mo- 
ther and die without issue my Will is that my said Trustees 
shall then pay the produce of my said Estate excepting always 
the two Annuities aforesaid To my Cousins Martha Hall and 
Ann Hick both daughters of the late Walter Hick of New- 
castle-upon-Tyne And to Alice Hick and Elizabeth Hick 
Daughters of Lewis Hick of Newcastle aforesaid to be equally 
divided between the said Martha Anne Alice and Elizabeth 



WILL OF JANE ELSTOB. 73* 

And after the determination of the said Annuities payable to 
Lucy Macgregor's use and to Mary Greaves my Trustees shall 
convey and transfer the whole of my Estate to the said Martha 
Anne Alice and Elizabeth their executors administrators and 
assigns respectively And I hereby give power and authority to 
my said Trustees to sell my Lands house furniture and other 
moveables to the Uses of my Will and to place all the money 
arising from such sale or sales in the public funds or upon real 
security excepting nevertheless what shall be necessary for the 
payment of my debts and Legacies provided always that my 
Lands shall not be sold during the continuance of the present 
war nor for one year after the conclusion of Peace unless some 
advantageous offer should be made for such Lands for the be- 
nefit of my said Niece Arabella And my Will is that my House 
shall be sold or not according to the circumstances which may 
arise and of which my said Trustees shall Judge and act for the 
best advantage of my said Niece Arabella Williams And I 
hereby appoint my said trustees to be the Executors of this my 
Will And I bequeath One hundred Guineas to each of them 
To my said Sister I bequeath One hundred Guineas To my 
Niece Arabella I bequeath my watch rings seals and Jewells 
plate china linnen and books If Mary Greaves shall continue 
with me to the time of my decease I bequeath her Twenty 
Guineas besides the Annuity aforesaid of Thirty pounds And 
if William Booth shall continue in my service to the time of 
my death I bequeath him Two hundred pounds And to each 
of my Servants continuing in my Service to that time I give 
mourning And my Will is that the respective husbands of my 
said Nieces or any future husband which either of them may 
marry shall have no power or authority or controul whatever 
of any Estate Annuity or Legacy hereby bequeathed to my said 
Nieces And it is my Will that my said Trustees and Executors 
shall not be answerable or any way accountable one for the 




74* WILL OP JANE ELSTOB. 

other but each for himself only In witness whereof I have 
hereunto set my hand and seal this second day of March in the 
year of our Lord One thousand seven hundred and seventy -nine 



Jane Elstob 



Signed sealed and Published by the said Jane Elstob as and 
for her last Will and Testament in the presence of us who sub- 
scribed our names as Witnesses in her presence and in the pre- 
sence of one another and at her request 

W m Robinson Rob 1 Jame3 Edward Hiest 

The Witnesses are Sir William Robinson Baronet M r Ro- 
bert James of Conduit Street Apothecary M r Edward Hirst of 
Marshall Street Upholsterer 

I Jane Elstob of Conduit Street in the Liberty of West- 
minster do declare this to be a Codicil to my last V^ill and Tes- 
tament I give and bequeath to M rs Anne More of Carlton 
House Pall Mall Fifty Guineas And I also give to the said 
Anne More my glass Lustre and Derbyshire Ornaments And 
my Will is that my Executors do permit the said Anne More to 
look over my Letters and dispose of my Cloaths and sundry 
other things in the manner I have described in a paper sealed 
and directed to her And my Will is to be buried decently and 
privately at Beaconsfield and to have a monument in the 
Church there of such form and in such manner as my Execu- 
tors shall think fit To Lady Mary Eyre I give my Bracelets 
set with Diamonds To Miss Lucy Carpenter my Goddaughter 
and one of the Daughters of Lieutenant-General Carpenter I 
give my Diamond Ring set with Emeralds To M rs Bathurst 
the wife of The Reverend M r Bathurst of Lainston Hants I 




^|| gvJm 



RJQQNUIMIISN'ir 

IN 

BKM'O^SJTEILJD) OTTOCM, BUCKS 



WILL OF JANE ELSTOB. 75* 

give Twenty Guineas for a ring To each of my friends Lady 
Catherine Bellasyse Lady Stapylton the Widow of the late Sir 
Miles Stapylton and M IS Lockwood the Wife of Thomas Lock- 
wood Esquire I give a mourning ring of not less value than five 
Guineas I also give a plain mourning ring to Gowan Aynsley 
of Little Hall in the County Northumberland Esquire And my 
Will further is that no auction shall be made in my house In 
witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this twelfth day 
of March in the year of our Lord One thousand seven hundred 
and seventy-nine Jane Elstob 

Whereas I have in my Will bequeathed Mourning to each 
of my Servants who shall continue in my Sendee to the time of 
my death my Will nevertheless is to be understood of such Ser- 
vants only who shall have been in my Service for one whole 
year preceding my decease Witness my hand this thirty-first 
day of March in the year of our Lord One thousand seven hun- 
dred and seventy-nine Jane Elstob 

18t7i August 1779. 
Appeared Personally Mary Greaves of the Parish of Saint 
George Hanover Square in the County of Middlesex Spinster 
and William Booth of the same Parish Gentleman and being 
severally sworn on the holy Evangelists made Oath as follows 
that they knew and were well acquainted with Jane Elstob late 
of the Parish of Saint George Hanover Square in the County of 
Middlesex aforesaid Spinster deceased and with her manner and 
character of handwriting and subscription having frequently 
seen her write and subscribe her name and having now seen 
and carefully viewed the paper writing hereunto annexed pur- 
porting to be the last Will and Testament with two Codicils of 
the said Deceased the first of the said Codicils beginning thus 
" I Jane Elstob of Conduit Street in the Liberty of Westminster" 



76* WILL OF JANE ELSTOB. 

ending " In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 
"twelfth day of March in the year One thousand seven hun- 
" dred and seventy-nine" and subscribed " Jane Elstob" the 
second of the said Codicils beginning thus " Whereas I have 
in my Will bequeathed Mourning" ending " Witness my hand 
" this thirty-first day of March in the year One thousand seven 
"hundred and seventy-nine" and subscribed "Jane Elstob" 
they these Deponents severally say that they verily and in their 
consciences believe the whole body and contents of the said 
two Codicils and the subscriptions thereto to be all of the pro- 
per handwriting of the said Deceased 

Mary Greaves W m Booth 

Same day — The said Mary Greaves Spinster and William 
Booth were sworn to the truth of this 'Affidavit Before me 
Geo Harris Surrogate Present Rob' Slade N.P. 

Proved at London with 2 Codicils the 18 th August 1779 be- 
fore the Worshipful Francis Simpson Doctor of Laws and Sur- 
rogate by the Oaths of Robert Waller Esquire and George Lewis 
Scott Esquire the Executors to whom Admon was granted 
having been first sworn duly to administer 

On the 19th day of July 1815 Admon (with the Will and 
2 Codicils annexed) of the goods chattels and Credits of Jane 
Elstob late of the Parish of Saint George Hanover Square in 
the County of Middlesex Spinster deceased left unadministered 
by Robert Waller and George Lewis Scott Esquires the Execu- 
tors and Residuary Legatees In trust named in the said Will 
both since deceased was granted to Arabella Williams Widow 
the Niece and Residuary Legatee for life named in the said 
Will having been first sworn by Comon duly to administer 



WILL OF ARABELLA WILLIAMS. 77* 

The said Robert Waller survived the said George Lewis Scott 
and died Intestate 

On the 21 st day of May 1817 Admon (with the Will and 
two Codicils annexed) of the Goods chattels and Credits of Jane 
Elstob late of the Parish of Saint George Hanover Square in 
the County of Middlesex Spinster deceased left unadministered 
as well by Robert Waller and George Lewis Scott Esquires de- 
ceased whilst living the Executors and Residuary Legatees in 
Trust named in the said Will as by Arabella Williams Widow 
deceased whilst living the Niece and Residuary Legatee for life 
named in the said Will was granted to Elizabeth Hedley (for- 
merly Hick) Widow the daughter of Lewis Hick and as such 
one of the residuary Legatees substituted in the said Will hav- 
ing been first sworn by Common duly to administer The said 
Robert Waller survived the said George Lewis Scott and died 
Intestate and the said Arabella Williams the Residuary Legatee 
for life dying without Issue and Lucy Mallet Widow the Resi- 
duary Legatee for life substituted dying in the lifetime of the 
said Arabella Williams.* 



WILL OF ARABELLA WILLIAMS. 

Devant Dieu ! qui connait l'interieur de mon Ame ! Voila ma 
derniere Volonte. Je donne et legue a Madame Beens une 
partie de ma Garderobe, qui sont mes trois Robes de Versailles 

* From the Eegistry of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury. The 
will is written on the first two pages of a folio sheet of paper ; the co- 
dicils are on the third page. The writing is remarkably clear and dis- 
tinct. Sir W. Robinson, one of the executors, was the second baronet 
of the Robinson family of Rokeby, in the county of York. He resided 
in Conduit Street. His name is lower in the fist of occupiers than Miss 
Elstob' s, there being twelve names between. 



78* WILL OF ARABELLA WILLIAMS. 

Blanches Brodies, deux Redingotes de Soyes, toutes mes Plumes, 
mes Chapeaux et une Bague de Diamand montee en Etoile. 

Je donne et legue a Monsieur le Marquis de Gabriac, comme 
un petit temoignage de mon Estime et Amitie pour lui, ma 
Bague d'agate couleur de Rose Arborisee et je le prie a son 
deces de le leguer a son fils le Compte Ernest de Gabriac comme 
un temoignage de mon Amitie et Estime pour ses qualities si 
rares a trouver a son age. Si Madelaine est a mon service au 
Moment de ma Mort, je lui donne et legue une portion de mon 
linge de Corps choisie par mon Legataire. 

Quant au Surplus de mes Biens je le donne et legue a Mon- 
sieur Matthias Auguste Dalencon qui demeure Rue de la Sour- 
dine N° 5 que je fais et institue mon seul et unique heritier et 
mon legataire universal en toute propriete en reconnaissance 
des preuves qu'il m'a donnes de son devouement dans le temp 
de la terreur et depuis 

A Paris ce 23 Decembre 1815 Arabella Williams 



[Translated.'] 

Before God who knows the bottom of my soul ! Here is my 
last Will. I give and bequeath to Madame Beens a part of my 
Wardrobe which are my three Robes of embroidered white Ver- 
sailles two Silk Riding Habits all my Feathers my hat and a 
Diamond ring set in a Star. I give and bequeath to Monsieur 
the Marquis of Gabriac as a small Token of my Esteem and 
Friendship for him my Ring set in Rose-coloured Agate. And 
I desire him at his Death to give it to his Son the Count Ernest 
of Gabriac as a Proof of my Friendship and Esteem for his 
Qualities so rarely found at his Age. If Madelaine is in my 
Service at the Time of my Death I give and bequeath to her a 
Portion of my Body Linen to be chosen by my Legatee. With 
respect to the Residue of my Effects I give and bequeath it to 



WILL OF ARABELLA WILLIAMS. 79* 

M r Matthias Auguste D'Alencon who lives at N° 5 Sourdine Street 
whom I make and constitute my sole and only Heir and entire 
Universal Legatee in gratitude for the proof which he gave me 
of his Attention in the Time of the Trouble and since. Done 
at Paris this 23 December 1815 — Arabella Williams 

Faithfully translated from the Original in the French Lan- 
guage in Doctors Commons London this second day of August 
1816 By me J. S. Willett Not? Pub. 

Appeared personally Andrew Dickie of Southampton Street 
in the County of Middlesex Gentleman and William Clarke of 
Pimlico in the said County Gentleman and made oath that they 
knew and were well acquainted with Arabella Williams late of 
the City of Paris Widow deceased for some time before her 
death and also with her manner and character of handwriting 
and subscription having frequently seen her write and subscribe 
her name and having now carefully viewed and inspected the 
paper writing hereto annexed purporting to be and contain the 
last Will and Testament of the said deceased beginning thus 
" Devant Dieu qui connait l'interieur de mon ame" ending 
thus " dans le temp de la Terreur et depuis a Paris ce 23 De- 
" cembre 1815" and thus subscribed "Arabella Williams" the 
Deponents say that they do verily and in their consciences be- 
lieve the whole body series and contents of the said Will and 
the aforesaid subscription thereto to be of the proper hand- 
writing of the said deceased. — 

Andrew Dickie — William Clarke 

On the 1 st day of August 1816 the said Andrew Dickie and 
William Clarke were duly sworn to the truth hereof 

Before me R. H. Creswell Surr te 
p r t ^m j. p ENNE N ty p u b. 

Proved at London 3 rd August 1816 before the Judge by the 
oath of Matthias Auguste D'Alengon the sole heir or Executor 



80* PROPERTY OF THE ELSTOBS. 

to whom Admon was granted having been first sworn by Comon 
duly to administer* 

£450 

The wife of Lewis Elstob appears to have possessed consi- 
derable property in the neighbourhood of Malton. Her sister 
and co-heiress, Mary, the wife of Christopher Croft, died with- 
out issue before 1728. Among the deeds relating to this pro- 
perty is a " Deed dated 6 th May 1728 and made between Lewis 
Elstob of Wigginthorpe in the County of York Esq re and Eliza- 
beth his wife one of the daughters of Nathaniel Harrison late of 
New Malton Gent" deceased on the one part and John Idle of 
Weston in the said County Esq. and Richard Woolfe of Lin- 
colns Inn Cent" on the other part being a Deed to declare 
the uses of a Fine levied by Lewis Elstob and his wife of 
Lands in Buttons Ambo a Cottage and Garth and one Croft 
in Low Hutton and another Croft in Low Hutton 3 Messuages 
in New Malton and a Barn in New Malton and a Garden in 
New Malton of a Farm in Little Brought on in the occupation 
of John Hutchinson Together with the Farm House and all 
and singular the Closes Buildings pastures feedings and Lands 
thereunto belonging And also all those other Closes in Little 
Broughton af d in the several tenures or occupations of Walter 
Baldock and others And also of that Farm in Thornthorpe in 
the said County of York late in the tenure of Leonard Reves 
together with the Farmhouse Buildings Closes Lands and 
Grounds thereunto belonging and also of all those Closes Lands 
and Grounds in Birdsall in the s d C° of York then in the occupa- 
tion of Layton Firbank and of all other Lands &c. of Lewis El- 
stob and Elizabeth his wife or either of them in posson or re- 
version in Huttons Ambo New Malton Little Broughton Thorn- 
thorpe and Birdsall aforesaid." 

Descendants of the Elstob family are still in possession of 
some of the property above mentioned. 

* From the Kegistry of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury. The 
original will is written on the first two pages of a folio sheet of paper. 
On the first page are two stamps. Some slight corrections have been 
made in the copy here given. It will be seen that the translation is not 
accurate. 



FACSIMILES OF AUTOGRAPHS. 





(Signature to Will.) 




(Signature to Bond.) 




(Signature to Will.) 



uCt-hi! 



d^U>eJC^. ~MlC? 



(Signature to Will.) 



82* 



PREFECTURE DU DEPARTEMENT DE LA SEINE. 

Extrait du Registre des Actes de Deces de VAnnee 1816, premier 
Arrondissement. 

Du cinq Avril, mil huit cent seize, a midi. Acte de Deces de 
Arabella Mallet, dec6dee hier, a onze heures du soir, rue neuve 
de Luxembourg No. 8, quartier des Tuileries, nee a Londres 
(Angleterre), agee de soixante onze ans, rentiere, veuve de 
Edouard Williams. Constate par nous Amador Jean Pierre 
Grillon Deschapelles, adjoint au Maire du premier Arrondisse- 
ment de Paris, faisant les fonctions d'omcier de l'Etat civil, sur 
la declaration a nous faite par Mathias Auguste D'Alencon, 
rentier, age de cinquante cinq ans, demeurant rue de la Sour- 
diere 25, et Monsieur Frangois Gilles Pierre Ruette, docteur 
en medecine, age de cinquante deux ans, demeurant rue du fau- 
bourg St. Honore No. 5, et ont signe avec nous apres lecture 

faite. 

(Signe) D'Alen§on, Ruette, G. Deschapelles. 



WILLIAM AND MARGARET. 



[' ' By a false heart, and broken vows, 
In early youth I die." 

TlCKELL.] 



WILLIAM AND MARGARET. 



The ballad of William and Margaret, according to the general 
opinion, was first published in Aaron Hill's Plain Dealer, 
No. 36, July 24, 1724. The exact time of its being written 
and published seems, however, uncertain. Mallet left Scot- 
land in August 1723. Allan Ramsay, in his /Stanzas to Mr. 
David Mattock on his departure from Scotland* thus alludes to 
William and Margaret : 

" But he that could, in tender strains, 
Eaise Margaret's plaining shade, + 
And paint distress that chills the veins, 
While William's crimes are red :" — 

The ballad was probably written in 1723, or before, and 
shown to Ramsay, but not published. Mallet himself, in a 
note to the ballad, as published by him in 1743, states that 
it was written above twenty years before. 

The author of The Plain Dealer, in introducing the ballad, 
states that he had taken up, in a late perambulation, as he 
stood upon the top of Primrose-Hill, a torn leaf of one of 
those halfpenny miscellanies which are published for the use 
and pleasure of our Nymphs of low Degree, and known by the 

* These stanzas are not contained in Ramsay's Poems, third edition, 
Edinburgh, published by Ruddiman, 1723. 

+ "William and Margaret, a ballad, in imitation of the old man- 
ner, wherein the strength of thought and passion is more observed than 
a rant of unmeaning words." Note uy Ramsay. 

Ramsay's Poems. 1728. 4to, p. 257. 



i& WILLIAM AND MARGARET. 

name of Garlands ; and that this leaf contained the ballad in 
question, and another which is quoted by him. He then adds 
some laudatory observations on the ballad, and thus continues : 
" I am sorry I am not able to acquaint my Reader with his 
Name to whom we owe this melancholy Piece of finished Poetry, 
under the humble Title of a Ballad.'''' 

In The Plain Dealer, No. 46, August 28, 1724, the author 
thus writes : — ' ' In my xxxvith Paper I published some Re- 
marks on an excellent Old Ballad, called William and Mar- 
garet. I was charm'd with the Strength and Beauties of its 
Masculine Simplicity ; and really took it to be, what it ap- 
peared, the Work of some Old Poet, long since dead ; but I 
have been agreeably undeceiv'd : the Author of it is alive, 
and a North-Briton. I congratulate his Country on the pro- 
mise of this rising Genius : For the Gentleman, it seems, is 
very young, and received his Education in the University of 
Edinburgh. Among many fine Qualities which adorn him, 
he is so unconscious of his own Merit, or possesses it with so 
sincere a Modesty, that he declines being publickly nam'd : But 
as he has oblig'd me with a Letter, containing the short His- 
tory of an unhappy Accident which gave Occasion to his 
Ballad, it will be an agreeable Entertainment if I publish it 
as the Author sent it me. * * * * The Author's Copy, 
which he inclos'd to me, is different in several Places from 
that which fell into my Hands; but the Sense of both is 
exactly the same ; and the Variation in some Expressions not 
considerable enough to make it necessary to republish that 
excellent Ballad." 

It is questionable, after all, whether the ballad was ever 
printed before it appeared in The Plain Dealer. It may have 
been first sent anonymously to that publication, or, indeed, 
with the author's name j for the story of its being taken up 
printed in a Garland can be considered only as one of those 



WILLIAM AND MARGARET. 



73 



literary fictions that Horace Walpole and Walter Scott have 
not scrupled to avail themselves of. 

That our author, though tutor to the sons of a nobleman, 
was at this early period in somewhat straitened circumstances, 
we find from one of his letters to his friend Professor Ker ; but 
to him the poverty and privations which Oliver Goldsmith 
endured at the outset of life were unknown, and he was not 
compelled by want to write a ballad, that it might be printed 
in a Garland and sung about the streets.* 

In the interval, then, between its first publication, July 
24th, and August 28th, we may assume that Mallet made several 
alterations in the ballad, and communicated them to The Plain 
Dealer; and we thus obtain satisfactory evidence of the author- 
ship of the original ballad, and an amended version of it, the 
author's name being disclosed to Aaron Hill, and thus to the 
literary public, who were not likely to be imposed upon by any 
old ballad, either in its original or in an altered shape, pro- 
duced as a new one by Mallet. The original version, and also 
the amended one, it appears, were afterwards both printed. In 
The Hive, a collection of Songs, the amended ballad is con- 
tained in the second edition of vol. i. p. 169+ (1724) ; the 
original version is contained in the first edition of vol. iii. 
p. 157 (1725), and the amended version in the third edition of 
vol. i. p. 159 (1726). 

In March 1728, William and Margaret was printed with 
The Excursion, the reason for its republication being thus 
stated at the end of the advertisement : " N.B. The little Poem 
that follows this, is added here, only because it was printed for- 
merly from an incorrect Copy." 

* See Prior's Life of Goldsmith, i. 75. Forster's Life of Goldsmith, 
second edition, i. 29. Oliver Goldsmith, a Biography ; by W. Irving. 
1849, p. 35. 

f I have not seen the first edition of vol. i. a.d. 1724. 



74 WILLIAM AND MARGARET. 

It is very material here to remark, that the publisher of 
The Excursion was also the publisher of all the editions of 
The Hive before and after 1728. 

The original version is omitted in the third edition of 
vol. iii. (1729) of The Hive. In a later edition of The Hive 
(London, 4 vols.) the amended version is contained in the 
fourth edition of vol. i. p. 161 (1732). This edition, however, 
does not contain the original version. 

In further tracing the history of this ballad, we find that it 
was inserted in Ramsay's Tea- Table Miscellany, vol. ii., being 
headed " William and Margaret, an old Ballad." The initials 
D. M. are subjoined. The second volume of The Tea-Table Mis- 
cellany was published in 1726. In Ramsay's New Miscellany 
of Scots Sangs, London, 1727 (being a selection from the first 
two volumes of The Tea- Table Miscellany), the ballad was again 
printed, p. 148. In the ninth edition of The Tea- Table Miscel- 
lany (1733, 3 vols, in one) the ballad was again printed, p. 148. 

Now, from Mallet's connection with the publisher of The 
Hive, and his intimate acquaintance with Ramsay, it cannot be 
doubted that the various alterations made in the ballad as it 
was printed in the successive editions of the two publications 
above mentioned were made with the sanction of the author. 

Some slight alterations were made in the ballad as printed 
in the author's Poems published in 1743, and two* more al- 
terations in the edition of the author's Works in 3 vols. 1759. 
The version of that edition has herein been adopted. 

From the time, then, that the ballad appeared in The Plain 
Dealer, the name of Mallet as its author was made public. 
The ballad, as we have seen, was printed afterwards in more 
than one publication, and eventually was included in the 
author's Poems in 1743, and lastly in the collected edition of 

* Verse xv. line % l With beams of rosy red.' Verse xvii. line 4, 
' spoke.' 






WILLTAM AND MARGARET. (O 

his Wo?*fo in 1759. During this period,* and for several years 
afterwards, the authorship of the ballad was never questioned ; 
and particular mention of the several early versions of it has 
herein been made, with the view of more easily refuting the 
charge of plagiarism which was brought forward nearly half a 
century after the ballad first appeared in The Plain Dealer, 
In a publication entitled The Friends, &c, London, 1773, 

2 vols, (in the first volume, p. 71), is inserted a copy of 
William and Margaret, which it is stated was copied from 
an old Manuscript Book, and which the editor of that work 
contends was the original, and that Mallet adopted it for his 
own and altered it. On this, the first charge of plagiarism, 
Bishop Percyf has recorded his opinion in defence of Mallet. 
It is unfortunately a very superficial opinion. On this same 
pretended original another writer coincides with Bishop Percy. J 

More accurate research would have prevented these learned 
critics from feeling the slightest necessity for noticing the 
charge that had been made, inasmuch as the pretended origi- 
nal printed in The Friends was really the original version 
(with a few clerical errors) as printed in The Plain Dealer, of 
the authorship of which Mallet had so long enjoyed the undis- 
turbed reputation. 

Another charge of a similar kind was made a few years 
later by the editor of Marvell's works (3 vols. 1776). In the 
preface (p. vi.) we find the following statement : — " By the 

* The popularity of the ballad may be inferred from the following- 
allusion to it, in a letter from the Earl of Orrery, July 7, 1741 : — "Poor 
Lord Oxford is gone to those regions from whence travellers never re- 
turn, unless in an airy visit to faithless lovers, as Margaret to William ; 
or to cities devoted to destruction, as Hector amidst the flames of 
Troy." Swift's Works; Edinburgh, 1824, vol. xix. p. 256. 

f Percy's Eeliques, fourth edition, 1794, vol. hi. p. 336. Per. Eel., 

3 vols., 1844, vol. hi. p. 388. 

X Lives of Eminent Scotsmen, 3 vols. 1821-2, — Life of D. Mallet, 
vol. hi. p. 50, note. 



76 WILLIAM AND MARGARET. 

attention and friendship of Mr. Thomas Raikes, I have been 
put in possession of a volume of Mr. Marvell's poems, some 
written with his own hand, and the rest copied by his order. 
* * * *" — After giving some extracts from this volume, 
the editor thus proceeds (p. xx.) : " The next composition I 
find, is that celebrated elegiack ballad of William and Margaret, 
which ever has been universally admired, and claimed and 
printed by Mr. Mallet in his poems. This manuscript book 
proves it the composition of Marvell, written by him in 1670. 
I am sorry this truth did not appear sooner, that the Scots 
bard might have tried to defend himself ; * * * * " 

The version of the ballad as printed by the editor of 
Marvell is that of the edition 1728, with four or five slight 
variations, such as might occur in copying. 

The editor thus continues (p. xxiii.) : — " The alterations 
which Mr. Mallet hath made in this ballad only serve to further 
confirm his plagiarism. In the first verse he has made this 
attempt at amendment. Instead of ' Silent midnight hour,' 
he has put it * Silent solemn hour ;' and for, 

' When all were fast asleep, ' 

' When night and morning meet.' 

" There are some other trivial alterations, and not for the 
worse, till verse the 15th, which Marvell writes thus : 

' The lark sung loud, the morning smil'd, 
And rear'd her glistering head.' 

Which Mallet changes for — 

' With beams of rosy red.' 

This, as a natural and poetical description of morning, is 
very inferior to glistering. For the dew which hangs on every 
tree and plant, glisters at the rising sun. I therefore pro- 
nounce Mallet's smiling morn with beams of rosy red, to be 



WILLIAM AND MARGARET. 77 

very inferior to the dignity of the smiling morn, raising her 
glistering head, 

11 1 do not think this a matter of opinion, but a very obvious 
falling off ; and proves the fame of Mr. Mallet to be like that 
of Allan Ramsay, borrowed from the works of much wiser 
men." 

The following may be deemed a conclusive answer to this 



" Perhaps a more ridiculous and ill-founded charge was 
never made than that which Captain Thompson has ventured 
to exhibit against Addison, Watts, and David Mallet, in the 
preface to this work. That the same Ms. should fall into 
the hands of these three gentlemen, and that each of them 
should be tempted to steal different parts of it, would be too 
gross an improbability to merit any belief, even if the characters 
of the accused did not exempt them from such a suspicion. 
Of the two former several defences have been already produced 
to the public ; but the latter has yet been without an advocate. 
It may be, therefore, candid to observe, that the imputation 
on his reputation may be clearly wiped away to the satisfac- 
tion of every impartial person. The ballad which Mr. Mallet is 
charged with purloining was originally printed about the year 
1724, and was inserted in The Plain Dealer, July 24th, 1724. 
Whoever will compare that copy with the present, which is 
given to Marvell, will find variations in almost every stanza, 
which would surely not have been made, as they are in general 
for the worse, had the Ballad originally stood, as it is now read 
in Mallet's Works. In the same paper, August 28, 1724, is a 
Letter from Mr. Mallet, wherein he gives the history of the Lady 
who was the subject of the Ballad ; whence it appears that 
the circumstances of the transaction were founded on facts. 
The alterations were evidently made by him afterwards ; and 
there is little room to doubt but that the Ms. was written 



78 WILLIAM AND MARGAKET. 

after the publication of the improved copy."* The internal 
testimony, moreover, is amply sufficient to overthrow all the 
presumptive evidence of Marvell's editor. 

In reference to these charges of plagiarism, resting, as we 
have seen, on such insufficient grounds, Dr. Johnson thus re- 
marks : — " His first production was William and Margaret, 
of which, though it contains nothing very striking or difficult, 
he has been envied the reputation ; and plagiarism has been 
boldly charged, but never proved." 

* Nichols's Lit. Anec. ii. 450. See Gentleman's Magazine, vol. xlvi. 
p. 356. " * * * * With regard to the much-admired ballad of 
William and Margaret, there is no room to suppose but that it was 
composed by Mallet, and Captain Thompson must be very credulous 
to believe it the work of any other person. The sable shroud, mentioned 
in this ballad, is peculiar to Scotland, and Mallet was well known to 
be a native of that country."— Extract from Letter signed " H. D.," 
Gentleman's Magazine, vol. xlvi. 401. See also a Letter in vol. xlvi. 
p. 559, in defence of the Editor of Marvell, which is answered by a Letter 
in vol. xlvii. p. 72. See also Davies' Life of Garrick, 1780, vol. ii. 28. 
^Retrospective Keview, vol. xi. p. 187. Stenhouse's Lyric Poetry of 
Scotland, 1853, p. 520, 



WILLIAM AND MARGARET, 



'Twas at the silent, solemn hour, 
When night and morning meet ; 

In glided Margaret's grimly ghost, 
And stood at William's feet. 

ii. 
Her face was like an April morn, 

Clad in a wintry cloud : 
And clay-cold was her lily-hand, 

That held her sable shroud. 

in. 
So shall the fairest face appear, 

When youth and years are flown : 
Such is the robe that kings must wear, 

When death has reft their crown. 



80 WILLIAM AND MARGARET. 

Her bloom was like the springing flower, 

That sips the silver dew ; 
The rose was budded in her cheek, 

Just opening to the view. 



But Love had, like the canker-worm, 

Consum'd her early prime : 
The rose grew pale, and left her cheek ; 

She died before her time. 

VI. 

"'Awake!" she cried, "thy True Love calls, 
Come from her midnight grave ; 

Now let thy Pity hear the maid, 
Thy Love refas'd to save. 

VII. 

This is the dumb and dreary hour, 
When injured ghosts complain; 

When yawning graves give up their dead, 
To haunt the faithless swain. 



WILLIAM AND MARGARET. 81 

VIII. 

Bethink thee, William, of thy fault, 

Thy pledge and broken oath : 
And give me back my maiden- vow, 

And give me back my troth. 

IX. 

Why did you promise love to me, 

And not that promise keep ? 
Why did you swear my eyes were bright, 

Yet leave those eyes to weep ? 

x. 

How could you say my face was fair, 

And yet that face forsake ? 
How could you win my virgin heart, 

Yet leave that heart to break ? 

XI. 

Why did you say my lip was sweet, 

And made the scarlet pale ? 
And why did I, young witless maid ! 

Believe the flattering tale ? 



82 WILLIAM AND MARGARET. 

XII. 

That face, alas ! no more is fair ; 

Those lips no longer red : 
Dark are my eyes, now clos'd in death, 

And every charm is fled. 

XIII. 

The hungry worm my sister is ; 

This winding -sheet I wear : 
And cold and weary lasts our night, 

Till that last morn appear. 

XIV. 

But, hark ! the cock has warned me hence ; 

A long and late adieu ! 
Come see, false man, how low she lies, 

Who died for love of you." 

xv. 
The lark sung loud ; the morning smLVd, 

With beams of rosy red : 
Pale William quak'd in every limb, 

And raving left his bed. 



WILLIAM AND MARGARET. 83 

XVI. 

He hied him to the fatal place 

Where Margaret's body lay : 
And stretch' d him on the grass-green turf 

That wrap'd her breathless clay. 

XVII. 

And thrice he call'd on Margaret's name, 

And thrice he wept full sore : 
Then laid his cheek to her cold grave, 

And word spoke never more ! 



84 WILLIAM AND MARGARET. 



N.B. In a comedy of Fletcher's, called The Knight of the 
Burning Pestle, old Merry-Thought enters, repeating the fol- 
lowing verses : 

" When it was grown to dark midnight, 
And all were fast asleep, 
In came Margaret's grimly ghost, 
And stood at William's feet." 

This was, probably, the beginning of some ballad, commonly 
known at the time when that author wrote ; and is all of it, I 
believe, that is anywhere to be met with. These lines, naked 
of ornament and simple as they are, struck my fancy : and, 
bringing fresh into my mind an unhappy adventure, much talked 
of formerly, gave birth to the foregoing poem, which was writ- 
ten many years ago. 



NOTE. 



OEIGIN OF THE BALLAD. 

It has been already stated that this ballad was founded upon 
real circumstances. The author gives the following account of 
the sad event : 

" Sir, — Your Plain Dealer, of July the 24th, was sent to 
me by a Friend. I must own, after I had read it over, I was 
both surpriz'd and pleas'd to find that a simple Tale of my 
Writing had merited the Notice and Approbation of the Author 
of the Plain Dealer. 

After what you have said of William and Margaret, I 
flatter myself that you will not be displeas'd with an Account 
of the Accident which gave Birth to that Ballad. 

Your Conjecture, that it was founded on the real History 
of an unhappy Woman, is true. A vain young Gentleman had 
for some Time professed Love to a Lady, then in the Spring of 
her Life and Beauty. He dress'd well, talk'd loud, and spoke 
Nonsense with Spirit. She had good Understanding, but was 
too young to know the world. I have seen her very often. 
There was a lively Innocence in her Look. She had never been 
address'd to by a Man of Sense ; and, therefore, knew not how 
despicable and unsincere a Fool is. In time he persuaded her 
that there was Merit in his Passion. — She believ'd him, and 
was undone. 

She was upon the Point of bringing into the World the 



86 WILLIAM AND MARGARET. 

Effect of her ill-plac'd Love, before her Father koew the Mis- 
fortune. Judge the Sentiments of the good Old Man ! Yet 
his Affection outweighed his Anger. He could not think of 
abandoning his Child to Want and Infamy. He applied him- 
self to her false Lover, with an Offer of Half his Fortune ; but 
the Temper of the Betrayer was savag'd with cruel Insolence. 
He rejected the Father's Offers, and reproach'd the Innocence 
he had ruin'd, with the Bitterness of open Scorn. The News 
was brought her, when in a weak Condition, and cast her into 
a Fever. And, in a few Days after, I saw her and her Child 
laid in one Grave together. 

It was some Time after this, that I chanc'd to look into a 
Comedy of Fletcher's, called The Knight of the Burning Pestle. 
The Place I fell upon was, where old Merry -Thought repeats 
these Verses : 

' When it was grown to dark midnight, 

And all were fast 
In came Margaret's 
And stood at William's feet.' 

Which, I fancy, was the Beginning of some Ballad,* commonly 
known, at the Time when this Author wrote. 

These Lines, naked of Ornament, and simple as they are, 
struck my Fancy. I clos'd the Book, and bethought myself 
that the unhappy Adventure I have mentioned above, which 
then came fresh into my mind, might naturally raise a Tale, 
upon the Appearance of this Ghost. — It was then Midnight. 
All, round me, was still and quiet. These concurring Circum- 
stances work'd my Soul to a powerful Melancholy- I could not 
sleep ; and at that Time I finish'd my little Poem, such as you 

* Percy's Reliques, 2d edition (1767), vol. iii. 119; 3d edition (1775), 
vol. iii. 120 ; 4th edition (1794), vol. iii. 120; edition 1844, vol. iiL.164 ; 
D. Herd's Scottish Songs ; Eitson's Ancient Songs and Ballads (London, 
1829), vol. ii. 92. 



ORIGIN OP THE BALLAD. bi 

see it here. If it continues still to deserve your Approbation, 
I have my Aim ; and am, 

Sir, 

Your most obliged, and most humble Servant, &c."* 

This touching tale is said to have originated in the seduc- 
tion of a daughter of Professor James Gregory, of St. Andrews, 
and afterwards of Edinburgh, by a son of Sir William Sharp, of 
Strathyrum, who had promised to marry her, and heartlessly 
deserted her. The young man was a nephew of Archbishop 
Sharp, of St. Andrews ; and his base and inhuman conduct in 
this instance added greatly to the odium in which the name of 
Sharp had been previously held in that vicinity ; and no doubt 
the impression was the more deep and painful in consequence 
of the universal respect which had long been entertained for 
the Gregory family, from which so many men of the highest 
scientific eminence had sprung. 

The tragical story is thus alluded to by Dr. Irving : — " A 
daughter of this Professor, a young lady of great beauty and 
accomplishments, is said to have been the victim of an unfor- 
tunate attachment, and to have furnished the subject of Mal- 
let's ballad of William and Margaret." 1 

* Plain Dealer, No. xlvi., Aug. 28, 1724. 

t Lives of Scottish Writers (1850), vol. ii. 266. 

See Eitson's Scottish Songs, 1794, ii. 205 ; Dr. Hutton's Dictionary 
(1796), vol. i. 555 ; also Stenhouse's Illustrations of the Lyric Poetry of 
Scotland (1853), pp. 471, 519. 



APPENDIX. 



WILLIAM AND MARGARET 
£ MlaD. 

• (From the Plain Dealeb, No. 36, July 24, 1724.) 



When Hope lay hush'd in silent Night, 
And Woe was wrapped in Sleep, 

In glided Marg'ret's pale-eyed Ghost, 
And stood at William's Feet. 



Her Face was like an April sky, 
Dimmed by a scattering Cloud : 

Her clay-cold, lilly Hand, knee-high, 
Held up her sable Shroud. 



So shall the fairest Face appear, 
When Youthful Years are flown ! 

Such the last Hobe, that Kings must wear, 
When Death has reft their Crown ! 



Her Bloom was like the Morning Flow'r, 

That sips the Silver Dew : 
The Rose had budded, in her Cheek, 

Just opening to the View. 



92 WILLIAM AND MARGARET. 

V. 

But Love had, like the Canker-worm, 
Consumed her tender Prime : 

The Hose of Beauty paVd, and pin'd, 
And dtfd before its Time. 



Awake .' she cry'd, Thy true Love calls, 
Come from her Midnight Grave! 

Late, let thy Pity mourn a Wretch, 
Thy Love refused to save. 



This is the dark, and fearful hour, 
When injur'd Ghosts complain : 

And Lovers' Tombs give up their Dead, 
To haunt the faithless Swain : 



Bethink thee, William ! of thy Fault, 
Thy Pledge of broken Truth : 

See the sad Lesson, thou hast taught 
My unsuspecting Youth ! 



Why did you, first, give Sense of Charms, 
Then all those Charms forsake? 

Why sigh'd you for my Virgin Heart, 
Then left it, thus, to break ? 



Why did you, present, pledge such Vows, 
Yet none, in Absence, keep ? 

Why said you, that my eyes were bright, 
Yet taught ' 'em first to weep ? 



APPENDIX. 93 



Why did you praise my blushing Lips, 
Yet make their Scarlet pale ? 

And why, alas ! did I, fond Maid ! 
Believe the flattering Tale ? 



But, now, my Face no more is Fair ; 

My Lips retain no Red : 
Fix'd are my Eyes, in Death's still Glare ! 

And Love's vain Hope is fled. 



The hungry Worm my Partner is 
This Winding- Sheet my Dress . 

A long, and weary, Night 
Ere Heaven allows Redress. 



But, hark! — His Day! — the Darkness flies : 

Take one long, last Adieu ! 
Come, see, false Man ! how low she lies, 

Who dy'dfor pitying You. 

xv. 

The Birds sung out ; the Morning smil'd, 
And streak'd the Sky with Red; 

Pale William shook, in ev'ry Limb, 
And started from his Bed. 

XVI. 

Weeping, he sought the fatal Place, 

Where Marg'ret's Body lay, 
And stretcHd him o'er the Green-grass Turf, 

That veiVd her Breathless Clay. 



94 WILLIAM AND MARGARET. 

XVII. 
Thrice call'd, unheard, on Marg'ret's Name, 

And thrice he wept her Fate : 
Then laid his Cheek on her cold Grave, 

And dy'd—and lov'd too late. 



VARIOUS READINGS OE THE AMENDED VERSION 
OF THE BALLAD, 

As it appeared successively in " The Hive," Vol. I. 2d Edition, 1724; 
Vol. I. 3d Edition, 1726; Ramsay's " New Miscellany," 1121; Edi- 
tion of " William and Margaret" {printed with " Excursion"), 
1728; "The Hive," Vol. I. ith Edition, 1732; " Tea- Table Mis- 
cellany," 1733 ; and in Mallets Poems, published in 1743. 

The version in " The Hive," 1724, is the same as in the Edition 1726; 
and that in '" The New Miscellany" is the same as in the " Tea- Table 
Miscellany," 1733. 



When all was wrapt in dark midnight, 

And all were fast asleep, 
In glided Margaret's grimly ghost, 



Hive, 1724. 



'Twas at the fearful midnight hour, 
When all were fast asleep ; 



New Miscel- 
lany, 1727. 



'Twas at the silent midnight hour, 
When all were fast asleep ; 



Edition 
1728. 



'Twas at the silent, solemn hour, 
When night and morning meet 



Edition 
1743. 



II. 
Her face was like the April morn, 

Clad in a wintery cloud, 
And clay-cold was her lilly hand, 

That held the sable shrowd. 



Hiv , 1724. 



96 WILLIAM AND MARGARET. 

Her face was pale like April morn, 
Clad in a wintry cloud ; 

That held her sable shroud. 
Her face was like an April morn, 



New 
lany, 1727. 



Edition 

1728. 



When youth and years are flown ; 

Such is the robe that kings must wear, 

When death has reft their crown. 



Her bloom was like the springing flower 

The rose was budded in her cheek, 
And opening to the view. 



Hive, 1724. 



Hive, 1724. 



New Miscel- 
lany, 1727. 



Just opening to the view. 
v. 

Consum'd her early prime : 
The rose grew pale, and left her cheek 
She d/d before her time. 



Hive, 1724. 



Now let thy pity hear the maid, 



This is the mirk and fearful hour, 
Now dreary graves give up their dead, 



Hive, 1724. 



VARIOUS READINGS. 

This is the dumb and dreary hour, 

And aid the secret fears of night, 
To fright the faithless man. 



When yawning graves give up their dead, 
To haunt the faithless man. 



97 

New Miscel- 
lany, 1727. 



Edition 
1728. 



Edition 
1743. 



To haunt the faithless swain. 

VIII. 

Thy pledge and broken oath, 
And give me back my maiden vow, 
And give me back my troth. 



Hive, 1724. 



IX.* 

How could you say my face was fair, 
And yet that face forsake ? 

How could you win my virgin heart, 
Yet leave that heart to break ? 



Hive, 1724. 



X.f 

How could you promise love to me, 

And not that promise keep ? 
Why did you swear mine eyes were bright, 

Yet leave those eyes to weep ? 

Why did you promise love to me, 

Why said you that my eyes were bright, 
Yet left these eyes to weep ? 



swear my eyes were bright, 
1 



Why did you w C£ i 

Yet leave those eyes to weep 



Hive, 1724. 



New Miscel- 
lany, 1727. 



Edition 

1728. 



* Being x. in edition 1728, in Hive, 1732, and edition 1743. 
f .Being ix. in edition 1728, in Hive, 1732, and edition 1743. 






98 



WILLIAM AND MARGAKET. 



XI. 



How could you say my lip was sweet, 

And made the scarlet pale ? 
And why did I, young witless maid ! 



Hive, 1724. 



How could you swear, my lip was sweet, 



New Miscel- 
lany, 1727. 



Why did you say my lip was sweet, 



Edition 
1728. 



XII. 

That face, alas ! no more is fair ; ■ 

These lips no longer red ; 
Dark are mine eyes, now clos'd in death, 

And every charm is fled. 



Hive, 172 



Dark are my eyes, now clos'd in death, 



New Miscel- 
lany, Y121. 



Those lips no longer red : 



Edition 

1728. 



The hungry worm my sister is ; 

This winding-sheet I wear ; 
And cold and weary lasts our night, 

Till that last morn appear. 



Hive, 1724. 



XIV. 

But hark ! the cock has warn'd me hence : 
A long and last adieu ! 

That dy'd for love of you. 



Hive, 1724. 






VARIOUS READINGS. 



99 



A long and late adieu ! 



New Miscel- 
lany, 1727. 



A long and last adieu ! 
Who dy'd for love of you. 

A long and late adieu ! 



Edition 

1728. 



Edition 
1743. 



XV. 
Now birds did sing, and morning smile, 
And shew her glistering head ; 



Hive, 1724. 



Then, raving, left his bed. 

The lark sung out, the morning smil'd, 

And rais'd her glist'ring head : 
Pale William quak'd in every limb ; 



New Miscel- 
lany, 1727. 



The lark sung loud ; the morning smil'd, 



Edition 

1728. 



XVI. 

He h/d him to the fatal place 

And stretch'd him on the green grass turf, 
That wrapt her breathless clay. 



And stretch'd him on the grass-green turf, 
That wrap'd her breathless clay. 



Hive, 1724. 



Edition 
1728. 



And thrice he call'd on Margaret's name, 
And thrice he wept full sore ; 

Then laid his cheek to the cold earth, 
And word spake never more. 



Hive, 1724. 



100 



WILLIAM AND MAEGAKET. 



Then laid his cheek on her cold grave, 
And word spoke never more. 



Then laid his cheek to her cold grave, 



New Miscel- 
lany, 1727. 



Edition 
1728. 



Edition 
1743. 



And word spake never more. 



CRITICAL NOTICES. 



" Fkom an Air of impressive Earnestness, that is distinguishable 
thro' this piece, I am of Opinion, that it was founded on the real 
History of some unhappy Woman of the Age the Author liv'd in, 
who had the Misfortune to die untimely by her Lover's Insensibility ; 
or, rather, by his Ingratitude. — I please myself with an Imagina- 
tion, that this Sonnet might be one of Shakespear's. A hundred 
worse are imputed to him: And there is his peculiar, solemn Power 
to touch this Church- Yard Terror, very visible in the Ghost of this 
Ballad. 

But, whoever the author was, his Judgment appears to have 
been as extraordinary as his Genius; as is finely visible in his Con- 
duct of this little Poem. — When the Ghost has glided in, and stands 
at the Bed's Foot of the sleeping Lover, had the Speech begun im- 
mediately, the Eeader must have been hurried too fast away from 
the Impression which the Apparition was design'd to make on him: 
He is, therefore, judiciously detained in this Place by a Description 
of her Pace and Posture, so strongly painted, that we really seem 
to see her. And, after a short Moral Reflection, which follows aptly 
in the Third Stanza, we are acquainted, during this artful Interval, 
with her Character, her Youth, her Beauty, and the Cause of her 
unhappy Death : And, by that Time we are prepared to know her, 
and to pity her, the Speech is open'd with this sharp and startling 
Summons : 

'Awake! she crijd, — Thy true Love calls, 
Come from her Midnight Gravel' 



102 WILLIAM AND MARGARET. 

But nothing was ever juster, or more strikingly imagin'd, than 
his Comparison of the Ghost's Face to an April sky, (which is, at 
best, but faintly shining, and is here made fainter still by a scatter- 
ing Cloud that dims it), — to the Shadow, as it were, or thin resem- 
blance of a Light not visible. This is an Image so true to the 
Meaning, so Poetical, and well-adapted, that it greatly deserves 
Notice; as does also that Clay-cold, Lilly-Hand, that holds up a 
sable Shroud! The Opposition of the Shroud's Blackness to the 
Lilly "Whiteness of the Hand, is a delicate and graceful Stroke, and 
very judiciously heighten'd by that Epithet of Clay -cold, which makes 
us shrink, as if we felt what we see so very strongly. 

To wake us from this horror, in order to make way for that 
Pity which he is preparing to move in us, we are, by a sudden, yet 
almost imperceptible, Transition, carried away from what she is to 
what she was, before Love chang'd her : 

' Her Bloom was like the Morning Flow'r, 
That sips the Silver-Dew.' 

I am charm'd by a stroke in this sweet Simile, which is touch'd 
with so much Delicacy, that it would go near to escape the Obser- 
vation of any Header not skill'd in Poetry. I will therefore take 
notice, that her exact Time of Life being directly pointed out by 
The Morning Hose, just opening to the View, that expression of Sip- 
ping the Silver-Dew is peculiarly just and elegant ; for, where a 
Flower is full blown, the Dew-Drops have free Admission, and are 
taken in, as it were, by large Draughts ; but a budding Flower, 
receiving no Moisture but on its Edges, is, with the finest propriety, 
said to sip it. 

A second excellent Simile is that where he compares a secret 
Love in a Woman's Heart to the Canker-worm in a Bud, that fades 
and destroys it ; and this, again, has the Air of Shakespear, who 
has the same Allusion for Grief in one of his Tragedies. There is 
something exquisitely touching in that noble Tenderness of her 
Reproach, in the Eighth Stanza. That Erotema, or figure of Ques- 
tioning, which takes up the Ninth, Tenth, and Eleventh, is pursued 
with the most pathetic Emphasis, and, at last, broken off with an 



CRITICAL NOTICES. 103 

Aposiopesis so natural and so moving, that I have seldom seen a 
Beauty more distinguishable. It is where, after all those passionate 
Whys with which she has been upbraiding her Lover's Falsehood, 
she interrupts them, on a sudden, with this Self-accusing Question, 
which strikes out the Moral too, in a surprizing Flash of Warning, 
where it was least to be expected : 

'A nd why, alas ! did I, fond Maid! 
Believe the flatf ring Tale V 

But it were endless to particularize the Beauties of this charm- 
ing Ballad. The whole may be said to be one continued Beauty ! 
And, I believe, it will not be possible for any serious Header to per- 
use, or hear it, without Emotions in his Blood, that will speak more 
in its due Praise than the most regular critique on it. 

It is a plain and noble Masterpiece of the natural Way of Writ- 
ing, without Turns, Points, Conceits, Flights, Eaptures, or Affecta- 
tion of what Kind soever. It shakes the Heart by the mere Effect 
of its own Strength and Passionateness, unassisted by those flaming 
Ornaments which as often dazzle as display in Poetry. This was 
owing to the Author's Native Force of Genius ; for they who con- 
ceive a Thought distinctly, will, of Necessity, express it plainly, 
because, out of the "Words which arise, and offer themselves to em- 
body a Meaning, they find no Use for the Superfluous but to darken 
and confound their Purpose." — Plain Dealer, No. xxxvi. July 24, 
1724. 



" It does, most justly, continue to deserve, and will for ever de- 
serve, not only Approbation, but the Applause, of all true Judges 
of Wit and Nature. . . ." — Plain Dealer, No. xlvi. Aug. 28, 1724. 



" Lichfield, March 10. 
" Mr. Urban, — I feel impelled to address you by the strange 
approbation Sir Joseph Mawbey expresses, in your vol. lxi. p. 1182, 
of Hesiod Cooke's despicable strictures on that transcendent little 



104 WILLIAM AND MARGARET. 

poem, William and Margaret. Right strange, indeed, does it 
seem that any gentleman, to whom poetic literature seems of the 
slightest consequence, should think it worth while to rake up from 
the ashes of oblivion such envious and futile comments, — worth 
nothing, except to evince their author's unquestionable claim to his 
situation in the Dunciad, where only we have found his name on the 
records of celebrity. 

It was with indignant disgust that I perused the conceited 
pedant's stupid observations and frontless disdain of a cotemporary 
author, so infinitely superior to himself. Besides the matchless 
ballad in question, there are several other poems by the same 
author, which will live, and be admired through future ages, except 
poetic taste should become extinct in this nation. 

Dr. Johnson justly observes, that whatever has continued, 
through the lapse of many years, alike the favourite of the learned 
and of the common reader, must deserve the reputation it has 
attained. I am aware that this observation proves the futility of 
Johnson's own criticisms in countless instances; but it is not there- 
fore the less true; and it establishes the claim of the William and 
Margaret to excellence, since it has met, from readers of every 
description, a warmth and universality of admiration which it is the 
lot of few poetic compositions to attain. Tickell's sweet ballad, 
Colin and Lucy, is a manifest imitation of this; and, with all its 
mournful graces, is of acknowledged inferiority. Yet of the Wil- 
liam and Margaret this curious critic has the effrontery to say, 
He should not have taken so much notice of it, had it not been one of 
the very silly things admired. 

He praises, and justly, Vincent Bourne's Latin translation. It 
is certainly very finely rendered, and, like the free translations of 
all people of genius, possesses some added beauties ; but the charac- 
teristic merits of the English and of the Latin poem are different. 
The first has the simplicity of our elder bards, Spenser and Shak- 
speare ; the latter the expanded descriptions and luxuriant graces 
of Collins, Mason, and Gray; while for the impressive imagery, the 
exquisite simile in the second stanza, the solemn invocation, the 



CRITICAL XOTICES. 105 

pathetic reproaches, and the general dramatic spirit, our thrilled 
hearts are indebted to Mallet solely, though the stanza from Beau- 
mont and Fletcher, with which the poem opens, might suggest the 
first idea. That a man of Vincent Bourne's genius, learning, and 
taste thought it worth employing his talents in a Latin translation, 
is a testimony in its favour that would outweigh an army of such 
dissentients, even if it had been as obsolete and neglected as it has 
been quoted and admired, from its first appearance to this hour, — 
imitated by our poets, and traced by our painters. 

Being ever my opinion, that a false rhyme can be of little 
moment in a poem which possesses the higher essentials of excel- 
lence, and that, to avoid such fault, it cannot be worth while to 
sacrifice the slightest degree of propriety in the sense, or of grace 
in the imagery, I cannot think, with Sir J. Mawbey, tbat Mallet, in 
his later editions of this sublimely simple ballad, has improved the 
first stanza by altering it thus : 

1 When all was wrapt in dark midnight, 
And all were fast asleep ; 
In glided Margaret's grimly ghost, 
And stood at William's feet.' 

To 

' 'Twas at the silent solemn hour 
When night and morning meet ; 
In glided Margaret's grimly ghost, 
And stood at William's feet.' 

The plainness of the original is much more striking: inanimate ob- 
jects wrapt in darkness, and the living world in deep sleep. I won- 
der that the author could, at the cavils of verbal critics, consent to 
change it, and for an assertion philosophically false, since night and 
morning never do meet, the latter stealing upon the former, and 
melting away its shades. Mr. Bourne was of my opinion, and trans- 
lated the first reading : 

' Omnia nox tenebris, tacitaque involverat umbra, 
Et fessos homines vinxerat alta quies ; 
Cum valvse patuere, et passu illapsa silenti, 
Thvrsidis ad lectuin stabat imago Chiocs.' 



106 WILLIAM AND MARGARET. 

Mallet's simile, in the next stanza, has no superior in all the 
stores of our poetry, and is, of itself, sufficient to place its author 
high in the lists of genius, for it is wholly his own : 

' Her face was like an April morn, 
Clad in a wintry cloud ; 
And clay-cold was her lily hand, 
That held her sable shroud.' 

Who, that has seen the corpse of a lovely young woman, does not 
feel the never-excelled beauty and greatness of this comparison ? 
not imitative, nor of obvious resemblance, yet of all other similitudes 
best calculated to convey a just idea of youthful Beauty, shadowed 
over by the dim suffusion of Death. It equals in excellence Milton's 
comparison of the face of Satan to the Sun, ' shorn of his beams.' 
The Latin version of that stanza has great merit : 

' Vultus erat, qualis lachrymosi vultus Aprilis, 
Cui dubia hyberno conditur imbre dies ; 
Quaque sepulchralem a pedibus collegit amictum, 
Candidior nivibus, frigidiorque manus.' 

Yet the personification of April rather injures than improves the 
simile. It is comparing a countenance to a countenance, an ima- 
ginary face to one supposed visible, however dimly seen ; and wants 
the noble simplicity of a chill and showery morning in spring, 
compared to the pale cold object described. The gathering up the 
sepulchral robe from her feet gives the added beauty of graceful 
motion to the fair mournful apparition: yet, 'with an hand whiter 
and colder than snow,' is more redundant, more ornamented, but 
much less pathetic, than the striking compound-epithet clay-cold. 
The imputed absurdity of the epithet sable for the shroud is done 
away 'by concluding that the fair forsaken had desired to be buried 
in black, as emblematic of the lamented desertion which had caused 
her death. 

' So shall the fairest face appear 

When youth and years are flown : 
Such is the robe that kings must wear, 

When death has reft their crown.' 



CRITICAL NOTICES. 107 

The second line of the above four falls upon every ear, sensible 
of the fascination of numbers, with all the luxury of mournful 
melody. The sweet alliteration of the letter y, and the plenitude of 
the vowels, produce it. In the two last lines the idea is better than 
the expression, which wants elevation. Upon them the Latin im- 
proves, thus : 

' Cumque dies aberunt molles, et laeta juventus, 
Gloria pallebit sic, Cyparissi, tua : 
Cum mors decutiet capiti diadem ata, regum 
Hac erit in trabea conspiciendus honos.' 

Our redoubtable critic pronounces the ensuing verse poor in 
comparison of its Latin translation : 

' But Love had, like a canker-worm, 
Consum'd her early prime : 
The rose grew pale, and left her cheek ; 
She died before her time.' 

' Sed lenta exedit tabes mollemque ruborem, 
Et faciles risus, et juvenile decus : 
Et rosa paulatim languens, nudata reliquit 
Oscula ; praeripuit mors properata Chloen,' 

' The slow consumption stealing away the soft blush, and facile 
smile from the youthful lip,' is, perhaps, even more poetic than the 
simile of the canker-worm, but it is only in a single degree, and, 
' a premature death snatched away Chloe,' is inferior to the simple 
pathos of ' She died before her time.' 

This malignant commentator then passes over in silence the 
solemn, the startling invocation ; the touching questions and re- 
proaches of the injured spirit ; so transcendently natural, and of 
such heart-affecting simplicity, that no future plaint from a love- 
stricken maid, or from her upbraiding apparition, can rival them in 
interesting pathos. — Yes, he passes over them in the silence of con- 
scious envy, hoping, perhaps, that because he mentions them not, 
their excellence will be invisible ; like the ostrich, which, when pur- 
sued by its hunters, thrusts its head into the sand, and fancies that, 
because it will not see them, they cannot see it. 



108 



WILLIAM AND MARGARET. 



Fastening with harpy-claws upon the 13th stanza, he calls it 
the vilest trash imaginable. If his works had been such trash, they 
would not have sunk, as we find them sunk from the remembrance 
of the public. 

' The hungry worm my sister is ; 
This winding-sheet I wear : 
And cold and weary lasts our night, 
Till that last morn appear.' 

' Germanus mihi vermis edax, depascitur artus 
Cognatos ; nee adhuc est satiata fames : 
Et gelidse et longse restant mihi tsedia noctis, 
Dum noctem excipiat longa, suprema, dies.' 

If the first line of this original verse may be deemed prosaic from 
its closing with an inharmonious and insignificant particle, yet, 
' the worm is my sister,' is a Scriptural expression, and has fine 
metaphoric spirit ; and the third and fourth shrill us with their 
awful discomfort, and complaining melody. The expression, last 
morn, is sublime. We find the Latin version of that stanza beauti- 
ful, though the worm is there too much dwelt upon to the exclusion 
of the winding-sheet. 

Master Cook then proceeds to say, that ' the last stanza is as 
bad' — as what? only as one of the most touching, and harmonious 
quatrains in our language, the situation of the particle ' is' alone 
excepted. Let us examine with what justice the final stanza is 
reprobated. 

' And thrice he call'd on Margaret's name, 
And thrice he wept full sore : 
Then laid his cheek to her cold grave, 
And word spoke never more !' 

The two first lines are solemn, and impressive; the two last merely 
narrative, but they are all they ought to be. After three piercing 
invocations, and three sore paroxysms of remorseful tears, he laid 
his cheek to the grave, and never spoke again. What need of 
ornamental language for a circumstance so affecting? Simply to 
mention it was the sole business of the judicious poet. Upon the 



CRITICAL NOTICES. 109 

heart of the reader the awful catastrophe is left to produce its own 
effect. 

Since the futility of these envious criticisms has, I trust, been 
demonstrated, it would be superfluous to vindicate the Author of 
this matchless poem where his other works are attacked by the same 
malevolent but powerless spleen. To Thomson, the charming 
Thomson, the first of all descriptive poets, it also imputes ' obscure 
and dull prosopopeias,' calling these kindred bards ' the two Scots' 
in contempt ! 

I cannot omit this opportunity of paying- the tribute of just 
encomium to that fine story in blank verse, by Mallet, Amyntor 
and Theodora, Its characters and incidents are infinitely inte- 
resting ; the versification is full, varied, and majestic ; the scenic 
painting and the imagery are brought to the eye with skill, force, 
and grace ; it abounds with subjects for the historic pencil ; the 
morality is pure, the piety exalted. — A. S."* — Gentleman's Mag., 
vol. lxii. p. 198. 

Dr. Percy, referring to the stanza quoted in Fletcher's Knight 
of the Burning Pestle, says: — " These lines have acquired an import- 
ance by giving birth to one of the most beautiful ballads in our own 
or any language." — Percy's Reliques, 4th edition, 1794, vol. iii. 
p. 120; edition 1844, vol. iii. p. 164. 



" In this list we also find Mr. Hamilton of Bangour, an elegant 
writer, whose Braes of Yarrow will be long admired, and Mr. Mallet 
(then Malloch), to whom we owe two beautiful stanzas, The Shades 
ofEndermay, and one of the finest ballads that were ever written." — 
Ritson's Historical Essay on Scotish Song, pp. 67, 68. London, 1794. 



" We .have many songs equal, no doubt, to the best of those 
written by Hamilton of Bangour, or Mr. Thomson ; though it may 
be questioned whether any English writer has produced so fine a 

* Miss Seward addresses some verses to a Miss Catherine Mallet. They bear 
date Nov. 1805. See Poems, 3 vols., 1810, vol. iii. p. 370; also Poetical Register, 
1805, p. 26. 



110 WILLIAM AND MARGARET. 

ballad as William and Margaret, or such a beautiful pastoral as 
Tweedside." — Ritson's Historical Essay on Scotish Song, p. 78. 
London, 1794. 

" Mallet's ballads of William and Margaret, Edwin and Emma, 
and The Birks of Endermay, rank with the best compositions of 
that kind in our language. William and Margaret is fully entitled 
to the favourable reception it met with. It is the most pleasing of 
all his poetical compositions. It is plaintive, pathetic, and simple; 
both the sentiment and the expression are equally captivating." — 
Dr. Anderson : British Poets, vol. ix. p. 678. a.d. 1794. 



" The same author's ballad, William and Margaret, has, in some 
degree, the same fault. A disembodied spirit is not a person before 
whom the living spectator takes leisure to make remarks of a moral 

kind, as, 

' So will the fairest face appear, 
When youth and years are flown, 
And such the robe that kings must wear, 
When death has reft their crown.' 

Upon the whole, the ballad, though the best of Mallet's writing, 
is certainly inferior to its original, which I presume to be the very 
fine and even terrific old Scottish tale, beginning, 

1 There came a ghost to Margaret's door.' 
It may be found in Allan Eamsay's Tea-Table Miscellany." — Sir 
Walter Scott : Essay on Imitations of the Ancient Ballad, Poetical 
Works (1833; 12 vols.), vol. iv. p. 28. 



" Had he never written any thing but the ballad of William and 
Margaret, Mallet would have deserved, for that alone, to have lived 
to future ages. — D. R." — Lives of Eminent Scotsmen (3 vols. ; Lon- 
don, 1821-22), vol. iii. p. 62. 

" The ballad of William and Margaret, and a lyric or two in a 
less natural spirit, have given more fame to David Mallet than all 



CRITICAL NOTICES. Ill 

his elaborated productions. He wrote at a time when a lucky song 
or a popular ballad established a poet's fame, and furthered his for- 
tune by introducing him to the notice of the noble. * * * * 

I have been unable to trace in the other lyrics of Mallet any 
of that simple mode of expression, or that sweet and antique grace, 
which have brought so much fame to William and Margaret. The 
story, suggested by the fragments from Avhich he imagined the 
song, seems to have possessed him too much to allow him to think 
of laborious polish or minute embellishment : he has been obliged 
to relieve his heart from the supernatural spirit of the tale by the 
charm of natural and inspired verse. I know not where to seek a 
finer mixture of pathos and terror in the whole range of Gothic 
romance. We feel, while we read, the presence of something un- 
earthly and undefined ; and we hear a voice which, like that heard 
by the prophet, makes all our bones to shake. From the calm and 
gentle reproach of the spirit, we imagine the Margaret of flesh and 
blood to have been a meek and sweet-tempered being ; and in the 
request which she makes to have her maiden vow and faith returned, 
we remark the presence of an old superstition which allowed no re- 
pose to the living or to the dead till all ineffectual pledges or tokens 
were again exchanged. 

Into this simple story and native style of composition the feelings 
of Mallet seem to have glided, as sap ascends the tree, to reanimate 
it and cover it with beauty. Yet the polished and colder and less 
graphic style of verse must have warred against the remains of this 
Scottish taste, when he was induced to make some alterations which 
not only lessen the simplicity, but impair the terror which the story 
inspires. At first he caught up the starting note of the old frag- 
ments, and sang — 

' When all was wrapt in dark midnight, 
And all was fast asleep.' 

He afterwards thought this ' too naked of ornament and simple,' and 
changed it to — 

' 'Twas at the silent solemn hour, 
When night and morning meet.' 



112 WILLIAM AND MARGARET. 

Now this emendation not only contradicts all belief, which inva- 
riably surrenders the midnight to injured spirits, but also asserts 
that the hour when night is growing into day is more solemn and 
more fit for such visitations than that to which rustic faith assigns 
all the terrific forms which are contained in his creed. In restoring 
the original lines, I may, in my own justification, observe, that the 
ballad will be rendered more true to superstition, and likewise more 
consistent with itself : 

' Awake, she cried, thy true love calls, 
Come from her midnight grave.' 

The speed of this ghost was unlike that of all sister spirits, if it 
rose at midnight, and did not stand at its victim's bed-side sooner 
than the hour when night and morning meet. The real cause of 
the alteration was, perhaps, the want of correspondence in rhyme 
between the second and fourth lines : it is rhyme to the ear — I 
mean, there is an uniformity of sound which gratifies the ear in 
singing equal to the most established rhymes, but there is no rhyme 
to the eye —and to oblige the eye, the poet spoiled his ballad. Nor 
was this so trivial a matter in days when the natural beauty of 
poetry was under the control of a mechanical arrangement of 
sounds. Dr. Johnson treated with contempt one of our finest 

lyrics : 

' Ah, the poor shepherd's mournful fate !' 

for a similar inequality of rhyme. In the other songs of Mallet 
there is more polish and much prettiness, and a fine subdued mo- 
desty of language and thought, which make them favourites with 
al] lovers of gentle and unimpassioned verse ; but we have no more 
Williams and Margarets." — Allan Cunningham: Songs of Scot- 
land, 1825, vol. i. p. 193. 

" Mallet is the only instance of an author who has written so 
much and so variedly, and at such different periods of life, whose 
first productions are still considered his best. William and Marga- 
ret is indeed a beautiful ballad ; and The Birks of Endermay, ano- 
ther early attempt, very elegant and very pleasing." — Note to Camp- 
bell's Specimens of the British Poets, 1845, p. 464. 



PARALLEL PASSAGES AND IMITATIONS. 



PARALLEL PASSAGES. 
WILLIAM AND MARGARET. 



"J am que dies medius tenues contraxerat umbras; 
In que pari spatio vesper et ortus erant." 

Ovid : Art. Amat. iii. 723. 

Ovid here, describing mid-day, speaks of evening and morning 
as equidistant. 

A similar mode of describing an early hour in the day is met 
with in Allan Ramsay's Gentle Shepherd, act v. sc. 1: 

" at this early hour, 

When nature nods beneath the drowsy power ? 
Far to the north the scant approaching light 
Stands equal 'twixt the morning and the night." 



" Till youth and genial years are flown." 

Song to Fortune, ver. 2, by Thomson ; Thomson's 
Works, Aldine edition, vol. ii. p. 256; Anno- 
tated edition, vol. i. p. 237. 

VII. 

And graves have yawn'd, and yielded up their dead :" 

Shakespeare : Julius Ccesar, act ii. scene 2. 



" 'Tis now the very witching time of night ; 
When churchyards yawn, . . . ." 

Shakespeare : Hamlet, act iii. scene 2. 

XIII. 

"I have said to corruption, Thou art my father: to the worm, 
Thou art mj mother, and my sister." — Job xvii. 14. 



116 WILLIAM AND MARGARET, 

XIV. 

The opinion that spirits vanish at cock-crow is very ancient. 

Philostratus, giving an account of the apparition of Achilles' 
shade to Apollonius Tyaneus, says that it vanished with a little 
gleam as soon as the cock crowed. — Vit. Apol. iv. 16. 



' Ferunt, vagantes daemonas 
Lsetos tenebris noctium, 
Gallo canente exterritos 
Sparsim timere, et cedere." 

Prudentius : Cathemerincon I. ad Gallicinium, 
11. 37-40. 



" I have heard, 
The cock, that is the trumpet of the morn, 
Doth with his lofty and shrill-sounding throat 
Awake the god of day ; and, at his warning, 
Whether in sea or fire, in earth or air, 
The extravagant and erring spirit hies 
To his confine " 

Shakespeare: Hamlet, act i. scene 1. 



" The morning cock crew loud ; 
And at the sound it shrunk in haste away, 
And vanish' d from our sight." 

Shakespeare : Hamlet, act i. scene 2. 



'• Then up and crew the red red cock, 

And up then crew the gray : 
' 'Tis time, 'tis time, my dear Marg'ret, 
That you were going away.' 

No more the ghost to Marg'ret said, 

But with a grievous groan 
Evanish' d in a cloud of mist, 
And left her all alone." 

Sweet William's Ghost, verses 14, 15; Ramsay's 
Tea-Table Miscellany, 1750, p. 324; Percy's 
Beliques, 2d edition, 1767, vol. iii. p. 126; 
edition 1844, vol. iii. p. 172 ; Ritson's Scotish 
Songs, vol. ii. p. 201. 



: Here let me frequent roam, preventing morn, 
Attentive to the cock, whose early throat, 



PARALLEL PASSAGES. 

Heard from the distant village in the vale / 
Crows cheerly out, far-sounding thro' the gloom : 
Night hears from where, wide-hov'ring in mid- sky, 
She rules the sable hour, and calls her train 
Of visionary fears, the shrouded ghost, 
The dream distressful, and th' incumbent hag, 
That rise to Fancy's eye in horrid forms, 
While Eeason slumb'ring lies : at once they fly, 
As shadows pass ; nor is their path beheld." 

Mallet : Excursion, 11. 22-32. 



117 



" . . . and wonder at the tale 
Of horrid apparition, tall and ghastly, 
That walks at dead of night, or takes his stand 
O'er some new-open'd grave ; and (strange to tell !) 
Evanishes at crowing of the cock." 

Blair : The Grave, 11. 67-71. 



Loud crow'd the cock, the shadow fled, 

No more of Sandy could she see ; 
But soft the passing spirit said, 

' Sweet Mary, weep no more for me !' " 

John Lowe : Mary's Dream. 



But first upon my true-love's grave 

My weary limbs I'll lay, 
And thrice I'll kiss the green-grass turf, 

That wraps his breathless clay." 

Percy : The Friar of Orders Gray, verse 21. 



IMITATIONS 



WILLIAM AND MARGARET. 



THYRSIS ET CHLOE. 

Omnia nox tenebris, tacitaque involverat umbra, 

Et fessos homines vinxerat alta quies ; 
Cum valvse patuere, et gressu* illapsa silenti, 

Thyrsidis ad lectum stabat imago Chloes. 

Vultus erat, qualis lachrymosi vultus Aprilis, 
Cui dubia hyberno conditur imbre dies ; 

Quaque sepulchralem a pedibus collegit amictum, 
Candidior nivibus, frigidiorque manus. 

Cumque dies aberunt modes, et laeta juventus, 

Gloria pallebit sic, Cyparissi, tua : 
Cum mors decutiet capiti diademata, regum 

Hac erit in trabea conspiciendus honos. 

Forma fait (dum forma fuit) nascentis ad instar 

Floris, cui cano gemmula rore tumet ; 
Et Veneres risere, et subrubuere labella, 

Subrubet ut teneris purpura prima rosis. 

Sed lenta exedit tabes mollemque ruborem, 

Et faciles risus, et juvenile decus : 
Et rosa paulatim languens, nudata reliquit 

Oscula ; prseripuit mors properata Chloen. 

Excute te somnis ; nocturno egressa sepulcb.ro, 

Evocat infidum Thyrsida fida Chloe : 
Tandem ! nunc tandem miserere, audique puellam 

Cui tuus invidit vivere durus amor. 

* passu, ed. 1728, 1734. 



IMITATIONS OF WILLIAM AND MARGARET. 119 

Hae tenebrse querulos manes, hsec elicit hora, 

Ut turnulis reserent humida claustra suis ; 
Spectraque discurrunt, perjuri terror amantis ; 

Ut trepidum infestent exagitentque reum. 

Thyrsi, tuum crimen, solenne recollige foedus, 

Et revoca hesos in tua vota deos : 
Virgin eamque fidem jurataque verba remitte ; 

Et mea redde mihi vota, resume tua. 

In qua defixus toties habere solebas, 

Qui faciem poteras destitnisse meam ? 
Qui tenerum, et reinim ignarum mihi vincere pectus, 

Victumque indignis discruciare modis ; 

Promisso quianam, nimis ah ! promissor, amore, 

Polliciti poteras immemor esse tui ? 
Laudatis quianam, nimis ah ! laudator, ocellis 

Extingui multo passus es imbre faces ? 

Dicere cur poteras, labium tibi suave rubescit ; 

Et facit, ut cedat purpura pallidior ? 
Dicere cur poteras ? et ego, rudis, inscia virgo, 

Cur blandum adjuvi credulitate. dohrm ? 

Nulla mihi, heu ! floret facies, quae floruit : ecce ! 

Quse rubuere, mihi nulla labella rubent. 
Mors, obsignatos tenebris, mihi clausit ocellos ; 

Gratia desertse nee super una gense est. 

Germanus mihi vermis edax, depascitur artus 

Cognatos ; nee adhuc est satiata fames : 
Et gelidse et longae restant mihi tsedia noctis, 

Dum noctem excipiat longa, suprema, dies. 

Sed cantu, audistin' ? monuit me gallus abire : 
Thyrsi, vale ; longhm, perfide Thyrsi, vale ! 

Vise tamen, tumulo quam sit defossa profundo, 
Quse miserum urgebat funus amore tui. 

Jam volucres cecinere, et festinavit ab ortu, 

Piupureo risu, sol aperh'e diem ; 
Pallidus obstupuit Thyrsis, tremulusque cubili 

(Ah tremor ! ah pallor conscius !) exiliit. 



120 IMITATIONS OF WILLIAM AND MARGARET. 

Fatalem ad tumulura cursu contendit anhelus, 
Qua jaouit gelida morte soluta Chloe ; 

Cespiteque in viridi, qui subtus flebile texit 
Corpus, se moestum projiciebat onus. 

Terque Chloen gemitu gemuit, ter voce vocavit, 
Et bibulam lachrymis ter madefecit humum ; 

Nudaque telluri nudse dans oscula, nunquam 
Aut vocem lachrymis addidit, aut gemitum.* 

Vincent Bourne. 



"'Twas at the shining mid-day hour." 

Tea-Table Miscellany, 11th edition, 1750, p. 333 ; 
London, 4 vols, in 1. Edition 1768, vol. ii. 
p. 157. Glasgow, 4 vols, in 2. 

This burlesque parody of William and Margaret was written by 
Allan Ramsay for the 4th vol. of his Tea- Table Miscellany, where 
it made its first appearance under the title of Watty and Madge. It 
consists of 16 verses of 4 lines each. 



A BALLAD, 

IN IMITATION OE WILLIAM AND MARGARET. 

Address'd to the **** ****. 
London Magazine, 1742, vol. xi. p. 507. — 13 verses. 



* This elegant Latin imitation of William and Margaret, by Vincent Bonrne, 
first appeared in ' Miscellaneous Poems by Several Hands,' published by D. 
Lewis, 2 vols., 1726-30, vol. i. pp. 38-47. It was printed in Mallet's Poems, 1743 ; 
and in the edition of his Works, 1759. 



WILLIAM AND MARGARET. 121' 



SBBttyelm imb ©retcfyen. 



3 uk ©tunbe ftttt unb feteutid^, 
2Bo 3Rod^t unb lag ftdj gtujkn, 

©tttt ©cettfjenS ©cfyfecfgefpenft herein 
Unb ftcmb $u SEBityefmS gitfien. 

35* 9lntK$ tt>at: wie ScufytingStag 

3n fdjneetgem ©enntnbe, 
Unb eiSfatt tfjre Ctttenljanb, 

©te'8 ©tct&effetb umfyannte. 

©o fteljt ba§ lieblid)fte ©effect, 
SOBenn Sat)*' unb Sugenb fdjwanben ; 

@o jeigt bet: giuft ftdj, tern in lob 
Sie Orotic fam afcljanben. 

Stnft gttdj bet: ^citljlingSMuinc fie, 

©ie ©ilbertfyau umfpriHjet ; 

Unb tfjre 2Bangen fpro&ten auf, 

>Bte JKBSdjen tjot6 es&lfiljet. 

£odj €tebe fauftf tfjc, roie bee SDBui'in 

Sec SUiitlje, fcitlj SSet'bei'fcen ; 
©ie 2Bangen Weicfc, bte TOcfjen fort, 
SHutst' t>oc bet* Sett ft'e ftec&en. 

@te fpradj : „2Bac§ auf ! Steulieotfjen tuft, 
£am 9tttttet;natf)t§ ttom ©tabe ; 

SOBem 1 urn bte Wait, bcu bit uetfagt 
Set Ctefce DuttungSgafre 






122* IMITATIONS OF 

„3eit ift fr* c t'wfttc <5tunbc, mo 
^erfatfyne (Seelcn jammcfn : 
S3 f£afft fraS ©tao, t>tc Xobtcn jie()ii 
3« bee SSecrat^c* £ammem. 

„9(n beinen 2D?cincib, 26tt()ctm, benf, 
2ln beine ©djulb mit Oieue ! 
©teO mtf incin jungftauUd) ©eUibb 1 
Suciicf unb meine Xucue. 

„S(Ba§ fdjwowft tot mit Stcte ju, 

Dfyn 1 eljiitd) c§ &u meinen ? 
Unb fd)tuovftauf mcinec 2lugcn ©tanj, 
Unb UeEeft fte bawemen ? 

>.'Ba§ nannteft tu mcin 9tntlt§ fd)6n, 

Unb fyaft mid) bod) uertaffen ? 
©emannft tic mcin jungf cent (id) Qm, 
Unb t)aft e§ bi-ccl)cn laffen ? 

„Unb fpi'adjft, not* mcincn gippen full 

^ttiiilt 1 ftcf) tec ©djavtad) fd)amen ? 
Unb id), id) t(joi:id)t iMbdjen, mufct 1 
£en Xvug fitc 2Baf)tljett neljmcn ? 

„2>ie Sippen, ad) ! finb nid)t mel)t toti), 

Unb nid)t mefyc fd)5n bic 2£angen ; 
£a§ 2fugc, fd)H)acj, &«:fd)fofi bee lob, 
£>ie Sterne finb m-gangen. 

„£ie iGucmcc nenn 1 id) (Sdjmcftecn nun, 
£>a3 ©i-augcmanb id) tcage, 

Unb fait unb tiage fd)(etd)t tie 01ad)t 
95i§ jit bem jiingften Sage. 



WILLIAM AND MARGARET. 123' 

,Sorf) fyotdf) ! beu §a()tii'uf fdjcudjt mid) fort ; 

Sttogft lefjrcit ©uuj? nod) fyoucn : 
^otnin, $atfd)ec, fief) ! wie tier fie Heat, 

©tc Cie6e ju tit Oegi'oOen." 

©ie €evd)e ftngt, fret- SDiocgcn tod)t, 

SSom cofscn Spotty fecfdjicnen, 
Unfc SEBiUjelm 6ebt uno ftcljet ouf f 

Q5(ctdj f mit t>ecftoi*tcn SStttcnen. 

<£itt sum Dctfjongmfbou'ett ^iof, 

iBo ©cctd)en§ @caO fid) bveikt, 
Unfe tuxvft fid) our fren Diofcn, ber 

©en tooten €ei& umHeteet. 

©vcimol fcetm 9Romen cuff ei; fie 

Uno weint' fcvci fcittce 3of)t'en, 
Uno Uflt' cie 'Bong' on$ @co6 unc (ojlt 

item 2Bwt metji* won ftdj Ijomt. 

£>.,€.$ 



q * * * * ft AND D * * * * * 

OR THE 
A 

TRUE TALE 

In Imitation of 

WILLIAM AND MARGARET. 

By a Young Lady of Quality. 



. . . . Foul Deeds will rise, 
Tho' all the Earth d'erwhelm them, to Men's eyes. 

Hamlet. 



LONDON: 

Printed for W. Webb, near S* Pauls. 1743. 

[Price Sixpence.] 



A copy is in the British Museum.— Pamphlets, King's Library, 
fol. 163, no. 51. 

There is the following MS. note in it at p. 3 : 

"Lord Cuton and Lady Dorothy Boile, daughter to the Earl of Burlington." 



122 IMITATIONS OF 



LORD GEORGE AND LADY DOROTHY. 

When all was wrapt in sable night, 

And nature sought repose, 
Forth from its grave the restless sprite 

Of Dorothy arose. 

Her face was all beset with woe ; 

Her cheeks were wan with care ; 
Her eyes were parch' d and sunk with grief, 

That once so radiant were. 

With solemn pace and awful gloom, 

And train with sorrow hung, 
She wander'd to that fatal room, 

From whence her sorrows sprung. 

And thrice she gave a piteous groan, 

And all unfuiTd her shroud ; 
And thrice she sadly shook her head, 

And thus bespoke aloud : 

" 0, George, thou author of this scene, 

Thy downy dreams forsake ; 
'Tis injur' d Dorothy that calls, — 

Injurious George, awake ! 

Awake, and hear that breathless voice, 

Which thy upbraidings brought ; 
Awake, and see that dreadful shade, 

Which thy ill treatment wrought. 

Behold this babe, this embryo babe, 

That scarce has learn'd to live ; 
Say, monster, why did you destroy 

That life you sought to give ? 

The means* were horrid as thy soul, 

The will was work divine ; 
That naught from me might ever grieve, 

To be a work of thine. 

* By being hurried about in a coach, and as often over-walk'd, &c. &c, she 
miscarried, when five months gone with child, and died the next day. 



WILLIAM AND MARGARET. 123 

See what a havoc thou hast made, 

Vile pillager of time, 
To blast the fruits that nature gave, 

Before their summer prime. 

How could you (none but you could do) 

Cut off my morn so soon, 
And let my lasting night come on 

Before its perfect noon ? 

How could you vow a lover's heart, 

And yet that vow forsake ? 
How could you win a virgin's heart, 

Yet cause that heart to break ? 

How could you to the prying world 

Profess such show of joy, 
Yet by your cruel deeds to me 

These gilded words destroy ? 

How have I strove in others' eyes 

To be all cheerful seen, 
When by your wounding words my heart 

Was bleeding all within ! 

How have I on my bended knees 

Implored your will to know ! 
What have I not, to please that will, 

Kesolved to undergo ! 

Why left I all that held me dear 

(0 dire decrees of fate !) ? 
Why gave I pure untainted love 

For undeserved hate ? . 

When you were absent from my sight, 

How restless have I been ! 
When you appear' d what joys I felt, 

Yet none in you were seen ! 

Wherein had nature wrought amiss, 

Or what had art defil'd ? 
Nor time had any furrows made, 

Or any feature spoil'd. 



124 IMITATIONS OF 

My face as other faces fair, 

And I as others kind ; 
Nor faulty more my eyes than yours, — 

The fault was in thy mind. 

There grew the beam that overcast 
The gifts which I possest ; 

There lodg'd those savage poison'd shafts, 
That pierc'd my bleeding breast. 

Why did you, base dissembling man, 
Such treacherous iUs impart ? 

To me — you only gave your hand, 
To others — gave your heart. 

Why was I, wretched, singled out, 
To screen your deathless shame ? 

Why was a false one deem'd as wife, 
While I but bore the name ? 

With her you spent those pleasing hours 

That did to me belong ; 
She in your eyes did all things right, 

While I did all things wrong. 

Why for these sufferings was I born, 

Perfidious ! tell me why ? 
Ere I beheld thy faithless face, 

Why suffered not to die ? 

Nor laws nor human nor divine 
Could stop thy brutal will ; 

Think on thy absent brother's wife, 
Thy brother's widow still. 

Still thou enjoy' st that guilty dame, 

In rank incestuous bed ; 
Think where will lodge thy guilty soul, 

When from thy body fled. 

Think on the deadly deeds you've done, 
Think on the fatal change ; 

Thy crimes rise higher in account 
Than justice can avenge. 



WILLIAM AND MARGARET. 125 

May spectres stare thee in the face, 

May horrors guard thee round, 
May conscience on thy footsteps tread, 

And all thy thoughts confound. 

May Egypt's plagues disturb thy rest, 

And every loath' d disease ; 
Till thou hast all my wrongs redrest, 

May all these plagues increase. 

And may the partners of thy joys 

Be partners of thy pain ; 
Till they have all my sorrows felt, 

May pleasures be their bane. 

But soft, the glow-worm calls me hence ; 

And ere it call on thee, 
Atone for every black offence : 
Farewell ! — remember me !" 

Evans's Old Ballads, edition 1784, vol. ii. p. 230, 
No. 39; edition 1810, vol. iii. p. 354, No. 74. 



126 IMITATIONS OF 

THOMAS AND ANNE. 

IN IMITATION OP WILLIAM AND MARGARET. 

London Magazine, 1743, p. 460 ; Scots Magazine, 1744, January. 



PYNSENT'S GHOST : 

A PARODY ON THE CELEBRATED BALLAD OF "WILLIAM AND 
MARGARET.* 

Almon, London, 1766, October. 
A copy is in the British Museum ; 4to. It consists of 17 verses of 
4 lines each, and an epitaph "of 3 verses. William and Margaret is 
printed, and the parody is on the opposite pages. 



ROBERT AND MARGARET : 

A BALLAD, BY M. 

Scots Mag., 1776, vol. xxxviii. p. 46. — It consists of 9 verses of 4 lines each. 



A NEW VERSION 

OF 

THE OLD BALLAD, USUALLY CALLED WILLIAM AND MARGARET. 

Europ. Mag., vol. iv. p. 312, a.d. 1783. 



DAMON AND CHLOE. 

IN IMITATION OP MARGARET'S GHOST. 

Evans' Old Ballads, 1784, vol.ii. p. 226. — It consists of 19 verses of 4 lines 
each. 



And when you first to me made suit, 
How fair I was you oft would say ! 

And, proud of conquest — pluck'd the fruit, 
Then left the blossom to 



1766, p. 542 



Why didst thou praise my humble charms, 

And, oh ! then leave them to decay ? 
Why didst tbou win me to thy arms, 
Then leave to mourn the live-long day ?" 

Cumnor Hall, verses 8, 16 ; Evans' Old Ballads, 
edition 1784, vol. iv. p. 130, No. 9; edition 
1810, vol. iv. p. 94, No. 19. 

A scurrilous imitation of a beautiful piece of ballad poetry." — Scots Mag. 



WILLIAM AND MARGARET. 127 

DR. JOHNSON'S GHOST. 

BY A LADY. 

A parody of William and Margaret, under the above title, is found 
in the Gentleman's Magazine, vol. lvi. pp. 302, 427. It appeared 
previously in the General Evening Post. See it in Boswell's Life of 
Johnson, 10 vols., 1835, vol. x. p. 189. It consists of 16 verses. 



COLLECTIONS OF POETRY 
In which William and Margaret has been printed. 

The Hive, London, 3 vols., vol. i., 2d edition, 1724, p. 169 ; 3d edi- 
tion, 1726, p. 159 ; 4th edition, 1732, p. 161. 

Ramsay's Tea-Table Miscellany, vol. ii., published before A.D. 1727 ; 
9th edition, 1733, p. 148 ; edition printed at Glasgow, 1768 (4 vols, in 
2), vol. i. p. 184 ; 11th edition, London, 1750 (4 vols, in 1), p. 137. 

A Collection of Old Ballads, with Copperplates, London, 3 vols., 
1723, &e. ; vol. hi., 2d edition, 1738, p. 218 (same version as in Hive, 
1724). 

A New Miscellany of Scots Sangs (Ramsay), London, 1727, p. 148. 

Orpheus Caledonius (same as in edition 1728), 1733. 

The Nightingale, a Collection of English Songs, London, 1738, p. 274. 
This version is from the Hive, 1726 ; Ramsay's New Miscellany, 1727 ; 
and principally from edition 1728. 

Percy's Reliques, 1st edition, 1765; 2d edition, 1767, vol. hi. p. 331; 
3d edition, 1775, vol. hi. p. 330 ; 4th edition, 1794, vol. hi. p. 332 ; edi- 
tion 1844, 3 vols., vol. ih. p. 385. 

Mendez's Collection of Poetry, 1767, p. 77. 

Aikin's Songs, 1st edition, 1770, p. 59 ; ibid., ed. 1810, p. 53. 

Bell's British Poets, 1777-82, vols, lxxiii.-iv. p. 155. 

Lady's Poetical Magazine, 4 vols., 1781, vol. hi. p. 278. 

Poetical Pieces of Eminent English Poets, by Retzer, 6 vols., Vi- 
enna, 1783-6, vol. v. p. 20. 

The Cabinet of Genius, 1787. 

Johnson's English Poets, 75 vols., 1790, vol. lxiii. p. 191. 

Ritson's Scotish Songs, 2 vols., 1794, vol. ii. p. 204. 

Anderson's British Poets, 1794, vol. ix. p. 721. 

Cooke's Select British Poets, 1794-6. 

Cabinet of Poetiy, 6 vols. (London, 1808), vol. iv. p. 194. 

Chalmers' Enghsh Poets, 1810, vol. xiv. p. 48. 

Sharpe's British Poets, by Thos. Park, F.S.A. 



128 WORKS CONTAINING WILLIAM AND MARGARET. 

Elegant Extracts, 1816, p. 1007. 

Whittingham's British Poets, 1822. 

Works of British Poets, by Sandford (New York, 1822), vol. xxvi. 
p. 283. 

The Poetical Commonplace Book, 1822, p. 134. 

The Commonplace Book of Ancient and Modern Ballad, 1824, 
p. 15. 

Allan Cunningham's Songs of Scotland, 1825, vol. hi. p. 84. 

Hazlitt's Select Poets of Great Britain, 1825, p. 431. 

Chambers' Scottish Ballads,' 1829, p. 280. 

Book of Gems, 1837, p. 111. 

Cyclopaedia of English Literature, by R. Chambers, 1844, vol. ii. 
p. 41. 

Campbell's Specimens of the British Poets, 1845, p. 464. 

Ballads and Poetical Tales, 1845, p. 103. 

Selections from Percy and Evans, by the Rev. H. Tripp, M. A. (Lon- 
don, 1849), p. 101. 

Scrymgeour's Poetry and Poets of Great Britain (Edinburgh, 1850), 
p. 521. 

The Book of Scottish Ballads, p. 78. 

Florilegium Poeticum Anglicanum, 1847, and 1852 p. 136. 

The Book of the Poets, 1854, p. 283. 



WILLIAM AND MARGARET SET TO MUSIC. 



Ramsay, at the end of a separate edition of William and Margaret, 
observes : " This ballad will sing to the tunes of Montrose's Lines, Rothes's 
Lament, or The Isle of Kell." — Note by Ritson. 

WILLIAM AND MARGARET, 

AN OLD SCOTCH BALLAD, WITH THE OBIGINAL SCOTCH TUNE. 

Slow. Thomson's Orpheus Caledonius, 1725, p. 49. 



S^^^^^^^g^ 



When all was wrapt in dark midnight, And all were fast a 



ffiia=r 



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5 



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sleep, Then incameMarg'ret's grimly ghost, And stood at William's 



3 ^- n-l ^spzj^nrz 



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siii^=gi=|Eip 



Ba 



feet ; Her face was like the A-pril morn, Clad in a win - try 

■» 1 

i J • i 



?^ 



m 



m 



=6*= 



siiifefes 



cloud, And clay-cold was her li - ly handThat held her sa - ble shroud. 



1 1 =1 1 1 1 § -4 1 — &— 



The version in Thomson corresponds nearly with that in the Hive, 1724. 



130 



In the Orpheus Caledonius (2d edition, 1733), Mr. William Thomson, 
the editor of that work, adapted Mallet's ballad to the old tune of Chevy 
Chase— See Music to Chevy Chase, Oswald's Caledonian Pocket Com- 
panion, vol. v. p. 31. 



Slow. 



WILLIAM AND MARGARET. 

Orpheus Caledonius, 2d edition, 1733, No. 49. 



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131 



1=2=1 



MARGARET'S GHOST. 

Rimbault's Illustrations to Percy's Eeliques. 
London, 1850, p. 118. 
P-r-P- " 



'Twas at the si - lent solemn hour, When night and morn-ing 



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132 



MARGARET'S GHOST. 

From The Village Opera* 1729. 
Rimbault's Illustrations to Percy's Reliques, 1850, p. 117. 



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* I^e Village Opera was written by Charles Johnson. It was performed for the 
first time at Drury Lane, on Feb. 6, 1728-9. 

Sir Nicholas "Wiseacre Mr. Haeper. 

Young Freeman „ Williams. 

Lucas , Johnson. 

Brush „ Miller. 

File Oates. 



133 



WILLIAM AND MARGARET. 



Affettuoso. ^~ .*. 



From English Ballads, Brit. Mus. G. 313, 
vol. viii. fol. 76. 



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Sir William Freeman Mr. Griffin. 

Hobenol ,, Beery. 

Cloddy , Rat. 

Betty Mrs. Thurmond. 

Rosetta , Raftor. 

Lady Wiseacre „ Shireburn. 

Peggy „ Grace. 

Dolly , Mills. 

Susan ,, Roberts. 

" This beautiful ballad has been set to music no less beautiful than itself. 
But who is the composer? It is in the key of D minor-"— Notes and Queries, vol. xi. 
p. 87; see also pp. 173, 343. 



134 



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In Johnson's Scots Musical Museum (1803, vol. vi p. 554), William 
and Margaret is adapted to a beautiful slow melody, which was com- 
posed by the late Mr. Stephen Clarke, of Edinburgh, organist. 

WILLIAM AND MARGARET. 

Slow. Johnson's Museum, vol. vi. p. 554. 



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g^^i^^^=i^gggia 



136 



WILLIAM AND MARGAEET, 

A CELEBEATED BALLAD. 

Written by Mallet.— The Music by Robert Broderip. 
Introduction. — Adagio cantabile 

i 



A.D. 1804. 









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137 



Largo con espressione. 



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So shall the fair - est face ap - pear, When youth and 




138 



years are flown: Such is the robe that kings must 



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wear, When death has reft their crown. 

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" Awake !" she cries, 
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thy true love calls, 



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Mar - g'ret's name, And thrice he wept full 

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2. 
Her bloom was like the springing flow'r, 



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That sips the morning dew ; 
The rose was budded in her cheek, 
And op'ning to the view. 



— *— ■ — *= — ■—*—'- 

But love had, like the canker-worm, 
Consum'd her early prime : 



Pi 



The rose grew pale, and left her cheek ; 
She died before her time. 
L 



146 



2. 



How could you say my face was fair, 
And yet that face forsake ? 



^ 



How could you win my virgin heart, 
Yet leave that heart to break ? 

Why did you say my lip was sweet, 
And made the scarlet pale ? 



ngrzi— 3: 



And why did I, young witless maid, 
Believe the flatt'ring tale ? 



That face, alas ! no more is fair ; 
Those lips no longer red : 



Dark are my eyes, now clos'd in death, 
And ev'ry charm is fled, 



The hun - gry worm my sister is, 
The winding-sheet I wear : 



And cold and weary lasts our night, 
Till that last morn appear. 



147 



WILLIAM AND MARGARET. 

(FOE THE FLUTE.) 

Oswald's Caledonian Pocket Companion, vol. i. p. 9. 
Ritson's Scotish Songs, vol. ii. p. 204. 






'Twas 



the 



lent 



so - lemn 



hour, 



When night and 



morn - ms 



SSHi! 






In gli - ded 



Mar - g'ret's 



ghost, And stood at Wil - liam's 



feet. 



Slow. 



WILLIAM AND MARGARET. 

(for the flute.) 



Oswald, vol. v. p. 



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%* See music of JFiKwwra omd Margaret also in " A Collection of 
Ballads from beginning of present [18th] Century." 9 vols., vol. viii. 
p. 85. [Lib, of Br. Mus., press mark 13 V. a.] The version is the same 
as in The Hive, 1724. 



EDWIN AND EMMA. 



[' •' And some have died for love." 

Armstrong.] 



EDWIN AND EMMA. 



The ballad of Edwin and Emma, beautifully printed in quarto, and 
accompanied by the ' Extract from the Curate's Letter,' the ' Note,' 
and the 'Advertisement,' was published in March 1760,* but with- 
out the author's name. There does not seem, however, to have been 
any question at the time but that it was the production of the author 
of William and Margaret. In the Collection of Poems on Several 

* " In a few days will be published, on royal quarto paper, price One Shilling, 

EDWIN and EMMA, 

a Poem, 

Printed at Birmingham, by 

John Baskerville, for 

A. Millar, in the Strand." 

London Chronicle, or Universal Evening Post, 
No. 503, from Saturday, March 15, to Tues- 
day, March 18, 1760. 



A similar advertisement appears in The Fublic Advertiser for March 19, 1760, 



" This day was published, on royal quarto paper, price One Shilling, 

EDWIN and EMMA, 

a Poem, 

Printed at Birmingham, by 

John Baskerville, for 
A. Millar, in the Strand." 

London Chronicle, March 20-22, and in the 
three following numbers. 



A similar advertisement appears in The Public Advertiser for March 21 ; and 
the publication of the Poem is noticed in The Gentleman's Magazine, March 1760, 
vol. xxx. p. 145; in The London Magazine, March 1760, vol. xxix. p. 167; in The 
Universal Magazine, March 1760, vol. xxvi. p. 167; and The Edinburgh Magazine, 
vol. iv. p. 168. The Poem and the Curate's Letter are printed in The Universal 
Magazine for April 1760, vol. xxvi. p 201. 



152 EDWIN AND EMMA. 

Occasions, published in 1762, to which Mallet's name was prefixed, 
Edwin and Emma was included. In that edition the ' Advertise- 
ment' is omitted, but the lines from Shakspeare are retained as a 
motto. The version of that edition has herein been adopted. 



EDWIN AND EMMA. 



i. 

Far in the windings of a vale, 

Fast by a sheltering wood, 
The safe retreat of health and peace, 

An hnmble cottage stood. 

ii. 
There beauteous Emma flourished fair, 

Beneath a mother's eye ; 
Whose only wish on earth was now 

To see her blest, and die. 

in. 
The softest blush that Nature spreads 

Gave colour to her cheek : 
Such orient colour smiles thro' heaven, 

When vernal mornings break. 



154 EDWIN AND EMMA. 

IV. 

Nor let the pride of great ones scorn 
This charmer of the plains : 

That sun, who bids their diamond blaze, 
To paint our lily deigns. 

v. 

Long had she filled each youth with love, 
Each maiden with despair; 

And tho* by all a wonder own'd, 
Yet knew not she was fair. 

VI. 

Till Edwin came, the pride of swains, 

A soul devoid of art ; 
And from whose eye, serenely mild, 

Shone forth the feeling heart. 

VII. 

A mutual flame was quickly caught : 

Was quickly too reveaPd : 
For neither bosom lodg'd a wish, 

That virtue keeps conceaPd. 



EDWIN AND EMMA. 155 

VIII. 

What happy hours of home-felt bliss 

Did love on both bestow ! 
But bliss too mighty long to last, 

Where fortune proves a foe. 

IX. 

His sister, who, like Envy formed, 

Like her in mischief joy'd, 
To work them harm, with wicked skill, 

Each darker art employ' d. 

x. 

The father too, a sordid man, 

Who love nor pity knew, 
Was all-unfeeling as the clod, 

From whence his riches grew. 

XI. 

Long had he seen their secret flame, 

And seen it long unmoved : 
Then with a father's frown at last 

Had sternly disapproved. 



156 EDWIN AND EMMA. 

XII. 

In Edwin's gentle heart, a war 

Of differing passions strove : 
His heart, that dnrst not disobey, 

Yet could not cease to love. 

XIII. 

Denied her sight, he oft behind 
The spreading hawthorn crept, 

To snatch a glance, to mark the spot 
Where Emma walked and wept. 

XIV. 

Oft too on Stanemore's wintry waste, 
Beneath the moonlight-shade, 

In sighs to ponr his soften' d soul, 
The midnight mourner stray' d. 

xv. 
His cheek, where health with beauty glow'd, 

A deadly pale overcast : 
So fades the fresh rose in its prime, 

Before the northern blast. 



EDWIN AND EMMA. 157 

XVI. 

The parents now, with late remorse, 

Hung o'er his dying bed ; 
And wearied heaven with fruitless vows, 

And fruitless sorrow shed. 

XVII. 

"lis past ! he cried — but if your souls 

Sweet mercy yet can move, 
Let these dim eyes once more behold 

What they must ever love ! 

XVIII. 

She came; his cold hand softly touched, 

And bathed with many a tear : 
Fast-falling o'er the primrose pale, 

So morning dews appear. 

XIX. 

But oh ! his sister's jealous care, 

A cruel sister she ! 
Forbade what Emma came to say ; 

" My Edwin, live for me." 



158 EDWIN AND EMMA. 

XX. 

Now homeward as she hopeless wept 
The church-yard path along, 

The blast blew cold, the dark owl scream' d 
Her lover's funeral song. 

XXI. 

Amid the falling gloom of night, 

Her startling fancy found 
In every bush his hovering shade, 

His groan in every sound. 

XXII. 

Alone, appalPd, thus had she passed 

The visionary vale — 
When, lo ! the death-bell smote her ear, 

Sad-sounding in the gale ! 

XXIII. 

Just then she reached, with trembling step, 

Her aged mother's door — 
He's gone ! she cried ; and I shall see 

That angel-face no more ! 



EDWIN AND EMMA. 159 

XXIT. 

I feel, I feel this breaking heart 

Beat high against my side — 
From her white arm down sunk her head ; 

She shivering sigh'd, and died. 






Extract of a Letter from the Curate of Bowes in York- 
shire, on the subject of the preceding Poem. 



Worthy Sir, 

*^* As to the affair meutioned in yours ; it happened 
long before my time. I have therefore been obliged to consult 
my clerk, and another person in the neighbourhood, for the 
truth of that melancholy event. The history of it is as fol- 
lows. 

The family name of the young man was Wrightson ; of the 
young maiden, Railton. They were both much of the same 
age ; that is, growing up to twenty. In their birth was no 
disparity : but in fortune, alas ! she was his inferior. His 
father, a hard old man, who had by his toil acquired a hand- 
some competency, expected and required that his son should 
marry suitably. But, as amor vincit omnia, his heart was un- 
alterably fixed on the pretty young creature already named. 
Their courtship, which was all by stealth, unknown to the 
family, continued about a year. When it was found out, old 
Wrightson, his wife, and particularly their crooked daughter 
Hannah, flouted at the maiden, and treated her with notable 
contempt. For they held it as a maxim, and a rustic one it 
is, that blood was nothing without groats. 

The young lover sickened, and took to his bed about Shrove- 
Tuesday, and died the Sunday sennight after. 

On the last day of his illness, he desired to see his Mistress. 

M 






162 EDWIN AND EMMA. 

She was civilly received by the Mother, who bid her welcome 
— when it was too late. But her daughter Hannah lay at his 
back ; to cut them off from all opportunity of exchanging their 
thoughts. 

At her return home, on hearing the bell toll out for his 
departure, she screamed aloud that her heart was burst, and 
expired some moments after. 

The then Curate of Bowes* inserted it in his register, that 
they both died of love, and were buried in the same grave, 
March 15, 1714. 

I am, 

Dear Sir, 

Yours, &c. 

* Bowes is a small village in Yorkshire, where in former times the Earls of 
Richmond had a castle. It stands on the edge of that vast and mountainous 
tract, named by the neighbouring people Stanemore; which is always exposed 
to wind and weather, desolate and solitary throughout.— Camb. Brtt. 



ADVERTISEMENT. 



As the profits, if any, that may arise from the sale of this little 
poem, are intended for a charitable use, it is hoped that the 
writers and compilers of our periodical papers will not reprint 
it in any of their collections. But they are, at the same time, 
left at full liberty to speak of it, either with applause or blame, 
as they shall judge it deserving of either. 

The following lines, from Shakspeare's Twelfth Night, may 
very properly stand as a motto to it. The Duke, who is pas- 
sionately in love with Olivia, having desired some music to 
soothe his melancholy, thus addresses the person who is to 
entertain him : 

The song we had last night — 



and then turning to his friend — 

Mark it, Cesario, it is true and plain : 

The spinsters and the knitters in the sun, 

And the free maids that weave their thread with bones, 

Do use to chant it. It is silly sooth, 

And dallies with the innocence of love, 

Like the old age. 



NOTES TO THE BALLAD. 



Note I. 

ORIGIN OF THE BALLAD. 

The beautiful and affecting ballad of Edwin and Emma has been 
long generally known, and has doubtless been read and admired by 
thousands who were altogether unconscious that it was founded on 
fact, and that the poet had drawn his materials from the mournful 
history of two faithful but ill-starred lovers. 

The village of Bowes, in the North Riding of Yorkshire, " was 
the native place, and the real scene of the hapless loves," of Roger 
Wrightson and Martha Railton. 

The story will be learnt from the following letter, and more in 
detail from ' The Extract of a Letter from the Curate of Bowes,' 
and ' The Bowes Tragedy,' 

"Rumford, Feb. 22. 

Mr. Urban, — Mr. Thomas Cooke in his enumeration of, and cri- 
tical remarks on, the works of D. Mallet (particularised in your last 
volume, p. 1181),* takes no notice of that beautiful poem entitled 
Edwin and Emma, which I always supposed was written by Mallet. 
I presume it will not be disagreeable to your readers to be acquainted 
that that piece (though adorned with the ornaments of the Muse, 
and believed by many to have originated in the mere effusions of a 
poetic brain) relates pretty accurately the death of two unfortunate 
cottagers. A knowledge of some particular incidents relative thereto 
enables me to communicate to you an account, to which we see few 
parallels! in these days. At Bowes, in Yorkshire, a dreary village 

* Cooke's remarks were made in 1744. 

t Two similar instances maybe here mentioned. "The ballad of Andrew 
Lammie is said to be founded on real circumstances: the daughter of the Miller 
ofTifty, near Fyvie, in Aberdeenshire, fell in love with the trumpeter of the 
Laird of Fyvie, and being prevented from marrying him, by her father, who 



168 EDWIN AND EMMA. 

on the edge of Stanemore, this young pair lived secluded from the 
gay scenes of the world: they were happy! for their happiness was 
centred in each other. Her sister was alive within these few years, 
and used frequently to relate to her young inquiring neighbours, 
with a kind of gloomy pleasure, every circumstance respecting the 
death of Edwin and Emma. These two early victims of love were 
both interred in Bowes churchyard, in one grave, over which no 
stone or brass is laid to commemorate their remarkable passion for 
each other. Their names are recorded in the parish register, with 
the particulars. Though they moved in a humble sphere, a bard 
arose and handed them to posterity, to be read when their real names 
and resting-place shall have long been forgot. It was once in agi- 
tation to have erected a monument to their memory by private sub- 
scription, but why not executed I know not, probably prevented by 
some characters similar to 

' The father, too, a sordid man, 

Who love nor pity knew, 
Was all unfeeling as the clod, 
From whence his riches grew.' 

x. of Edwin and Emma. 

The author of a publication, entitled A Week at a Cottage, has given 
us an account of their lives in his work, but with a poetica licentia 



esteemed the match beneath his dignity, died in consequence of a broken heart. 
Both parties are said to have been remarkable for good looks. Annie's death, 
according to her gravestone in Fyvie churchyard, took place in 1631. Andrew, 
however, did not die as related in the ballad." — Chambers' Scottish Ballads, 1829, 
p. 137. Retrosp. Rev., 2d series, vol. ii. p. 400. 

There is a circumstance in the life of Michael Johnson (the father of Dr. 
Johnson) somewhat romantic, but well authenticated. "A young woman of Leek, 
in Staffordshire, while he served his apprenticeship there, conceived a violent 
passion for him ; and though it met with no favourable return, followed him to 
Lichfield, where she took lodgings opposite to the house in which he lived, and 
indulged her hopeless flame. When he was informed that it so preyed upon her 
mind that her life was in danger, he, with a generous humanity, went to her, and 
offered to marry her; but it was then too late: her vital power was exhausted ; 
and she actually exhibited one of the very rare instances of dying for love." — 
Boswell's Life of Johnson, 10 vols. (London, 1835). vol. i. pp.31, 313; 1 vol. (Lon- 
don, 1848), p. 5; Gentleman* Magazine, vol. lv. p. 100. 



ORIGIN OF THE BALLAD. 169 

has wandered so far into the regions of fancy, and varnished his 
narrative with so high a colouring, that he leads into labyrinths 
rather than elucidates the story. 

Yours, &c. 

T. C."* 

' The Curate's Letter' alone appears to have furnished the in- 
cidents introduced by Mallet, no allusion being made to the more 
minute circumstances detailed in ' The Bowes Tragedy.' 

* Gentleman's Magazine, vol. lxii. part i. p. 100, a.d. 1792. 




{MKV&J. 




Note II. 

"Far in the windings of a vale." — Ver. i. 

VILLAGE OF BOWES, CASTLE, AND CHURCH. 

Bowes* is a parish and township in the Wapentake of Gilling 
West, and is situated on the edge of Stanemore, in the North Riding 
of Yorkshire; and though now only an obscure village, was once a 
Roman military station, as appears from its situation with respect 
to other acknowledged stations, divers fragments of incriptions, and 
the remains of baths and aqueducts found hereabouts. One of the 
inscribed stones, it is said, served for the Communion-table at the 
Parish Church. 

About the time of the Conquest here was a town, which, accord- 
ing to the tradition of the inhabitants, was burned. It then be- 
longed to the Earls of Brittany and Richmond. The Castle was 
built, as Mr. Horsley thinks, out of the ruins of the Roman for- 
tress, by Allan Niger, the first Earl of that title, who (it is said in 
a Ms. belonging to the dissolved Monastery of St. Mary's at York) 
placed therein William his relation, with 500 archers, to defend it 
against some insurgents in Cumberland and Westmoreland, confe- 
derated with the Scots ; giving him for the device of his standard, 
the arms of Brittany, with three bows and a bundle of arrows, from 
whence both the Castle and its commander derived their names; the 
former being called Bowe Castle, and the latter William de Arcu- 
bus. Camden indeed mentions another derivation, but it seems 
rather a less probable one : " As for the latter name of Bowes, says 
he, considering the old town had been burnt to the ground (as all 

* Camden's Britannia, iii. pp. 25, 93, ed. 1789; Grose's Antiquities, vol. iv. ; 
Hutchinson's Excursion to the Lakes, 1776, pp. 3-10; Whittaker's Bichmondshire, 
i. p. 189; Phillips' Rivers, Mountains, and Sea-Coast of Yorkshire, p. 47. 



172 



EDWIN AND EMMA. 



the inhabitants report), I should think it arose upon that occa- 
sion ; for that which is burrit, in the old British language is called 
BoetlC 

This castle, Henry III., in the 25th year of his reign, by an 
especial charter, settled, together with the town, upon Peter de 
Savoy, uncle to his queen, who, by a composition, resigned it to 
John de Dreux, Earl of Richmond : he in the first of Edward III. 
obtained a license to grant the castle to Arthur his brother and 
heir; but it seems to have been only for three or four years; for in 




the fifth of the same king, he obtained another license to grant the 
said castle to Mary St. Paul, Countess of Pembroke. From her it 
passed to John, Duke of Bedford, the third son of Henry IV., who 
died possessed of it. It afterwards devolved on Henry VI. Prom 
him there is a chasm in the history of the succession of proprietors. 






BOWES CASTLE. 173 

To this castle belonged a certain tribute called thorough toll,* 
and the privilege of a gallows. 

The edifice stands on the summit of a hill f declining suddenly 
southward : at its foot runs the river Greta. It is surrounded by a 
deep ditch, on the south side of which is a small esplanade, appa- 
rently calculated for the use of the castle. On the south-eastern 
point of this esplanade are the remains of a bath, J with its aqueduct, 
now totally in ruins. 

The castle is in figure nearly a right-angled parallelogram. Its 
longest side, which runs from east to west, measures about 75 feet, 
its breadth 60. In the middle of each face, and near each angle, 
are small projections advancing about two feet, and forming flanking 
turrets and a buttress, similar to those on Gundolph's Tower at Ro- 
chester, the Castle at Bamborough, and indeed most of the keeps of 
the Norman Castles. Its height is about 53 feet. 

The whole building seems to have been originally faced with 
squared stones, of which it has been stripped in many places, parti- 
cularly on the north side. The inner part of the walls appears to 
be of that construction which the workmen call grout- work ; that is, 
small flints mixed with very fluid mortar. 

It was divided into several apartments, one of the lower divisions 
of which was supported by a central pillar, from whence branched 
out arches which formed a vaulted roof. Parts of several arches are 
to be seen projecting from the walls. In the south-east angle is a 
circular staircase. The windows, which are irregularly placed, 
have circular arches. 

The author of An Excursion to the Lakes says, — " On a late en- 
closure of some common lands belonging to Bowes, an ancient aque- 

* James Pulleine, Esq., is now owner of the castle and thorough toll. Gallow 
Hill, where the jus furcce was exercised, is a little east of the town, 
t " Distant and high, the tower of Bowes 

Like steel upon the anvil glows;" 

Scott's Roheby, canto v. line 7. 

% This bath is in a field called Chapel Bank, which is glebe land belonging 
to the Church. The bath was excavated by the Rev. R. Wilson, a few years be- 
fore his death. 



174 EDWIN AND EMMA, 

duct was discovered, which had conveyed the water from a place 
called Levar, or Levy-Pool, near two miles distant from the castle, 
which was sufficient at once to supply the garrison with fresh water, 
and also the baths." 

It does not appear when the manor of Bowes was severed from 
the great fee of Kichmond, but it was purchased in 1657 of the Cor- 
poration of the City of London. A conveyance, executed on the 
21st October 1658, contained certain trusts, which were again ex- 
pressed in an indenture of 29th November 1682. In 1809 a suit 
was instituted in the Court of Chancery against Lord Kokeby and 
Matthew Montagu, Esq., who were then acting as trustees ; and 
the result* was, that new trusteesf were appointed, by indentures 
dated 24th and 25th July 1818. 

The parish of Bowes contains the townships of Bowes and Gil- 
monby . The township of Bowes includes the hamlets of Bowes-Cross, 
Gallow-Hill, Low-Field, Mell- Waters, Sleightholme, Stony-Keld, 
Applegarth Forest, and part of the hamlet of Tan-HilL 

The whole parish of Bowes contains 18,334 statute acres. The 
population of the parish in 1851 was 725. 

The village consists principally of one street, extending about 
half a mile from east to west. There was formerly an annual fair 
on the 1st October, and a weekly market on Friday. 

The living of Bowes, which was given to St. Leonard's Hospi- 
tal, York, was never endowed as a vicarage ; but is a perpetual 
curacy, in the archdeaconry of Kichmond, and in the diocese of 
Kipon. The present patron, and also owner of Bowes Hall, the 
ancient seat of the family of Brunskill, is Philip Holmes Stanton, 
Esq., devisee under the will of Thomas Harrison, Esq., of Stubb- 
House, in the county of Durham. 

* See decree in Edwards v. Lord Kokeby, Feb. 1817. This case is not re- 
ported. 

f See Hutchinson v. Morritt, Younge and Collier's Reports, iii. 547. There 
have been several Chancery suits relating to Bowes Manor. During the hearing 
of one of these suits before Vice-Chancellor Shadwell, I remember Mr. D. Wake- 
field, Q.C., mentioning to the Vice- Chancellor that Bowes was the scene of the 
poem of Edwin and Emma. 



BOWES CHURCH. 



175 



The church* is Norman, and probably not much later than the 
castle. It is dedicated to St. Giles. On the floor of the church are 
several gravestones, stripped of their brasses. There are two mural 




tablets of marble. One of them, at the east end of the chancel, 
bears the following inscription : 

€o tlje gemots 

of Cornelius Harrison, Esq, 

of Stubb House, in the County of Durham, 

Patron of this Church, 

who died June 5th, 1S06, aged 62. 

Also, of Ann Harrison, the beloved wife 

of the said Cornelius Harrison, Esq. 

eldest daughter of the late 

Philip Brunskill, Esq., of this place, 

who died January 9th, 1784, aged 36. 

It is requested that the great stone below 

may never be disturbed. 

* See the will, dated July 15th, 1404, of Thomas Wodecok, who bequeathed 
a sum of money to be expended in adding a porch to the church.— Testa. Ebora- 
censia, p. 335. 



176 



EDWIN AND EMMA. 



The other tablet, which is on the south side of the church, was 
erected on the 20th October, 1834, at the expense of some gentle- 
men who had been pupils of the Rev. Richard Wilson. The in- 
scription is as follows : 

3To xtjt ffltmxs of 

The Rev. Richard Wilson, 

Perpetual Curate of this Parish 

12 years, and of Whorlton, in the 

County of Durham, 29 years, 

who died May 29th, 1822, aged 60 years, 

this Tablet is erected in token 

of their gratitude and respect, 

by his surviving pupils. 




FONT IN BOWES CHURCH. 



The parish registers furnish the following list of incumbents 



William Atkinson, curate 
Thomas Fawcett, rector* 
-Richard Wharton, curatef 
Ralph Wren, curatej 
John Pears, curate§ 



A.D. 

1616 

1667 
1674 
1692 



* Mr. Fawcett is styled rector in the old register. Each of his successors is 
designated minister or curate. The return of registers made in 1663 is signed 
by Thos. Fawcett, as far as I can decipher it. That for 1667 also is signed by him. 

t Richard Wharton, curate of Bowes, buried Feb. 12, 1691-2. 

\ Ralph Wren was rector of Rokeby from about 168S to 1725. 

g Buried March 11, 1724-5. In several of the returns to the registry Mr. Pears 
signs his name thus: "John Pears, curat, de Bowes." 



eiconry of KichmoiicL 




Fas- similes of: Autographs in the Registry of the Consistory Co-urt of the Archdeac 



omy of Richmond. 



Jjy tf ^Cffenfi^fp * 








<r& 



n Jean; guraje of ftwzj 







cc/i: MJiarforL curaP' 

iy^<zaG i^zr^ft7?i mu^^&O 



'<& 











I 



BOWES CHURCH. 177 

A.D. 

Joseph Taylor, curate* 1724 

Isaac Cookson, curate, pro tempore^ . . . 1749 

Thomas Bowman, minister^ 1750 

(Appointed as successor to Mr. Taylor.) 

Joseph Parker§ 1770 

Joseph Pearson|| 1795 

Eichard Wilson^ . . . . . . . 1810 

Johnson Lambert 1822 

Here is a free grammar-school,** founded and endowed by Wil- 
liam Hutchinson, Esq. of Delro, Herts, a.d. 1693. In addition to 



* Buried May 12, 1749, aged 56 years. Mr. Taylor's will bears date May 
10, 1749. It is attested by Joseph Richardson, Isaac Cookson, and Thomas 
Dixon. 

f The name of Isaac Cookson is attached to a certificate appended to a peti- 
tion by the Rev. Joseph Taylor to the commissary of the archdeaconry of Rich- 
mond, that a pew may be granted for his use in the north-west corner of the 
church. The petition is dated October 4, 1748. 

% Mr. Bowman did not die at Bowes. 

g See Gent.'s Mag., Feb. 1770, vol. xl. p. 96. Mr. Parker died July 30, 1795, 
aged S2; buried Aug. 1. A grave-stone to his memory stands at the east end of 
the church. 

|j Mr. Pearson was a native of Winton, near Kirkby Stephen. The living 
was offered to Mr. Joseph Adamthwaite, nephew of Mr. Pearson, before he was 
in priest's orders, and Mr. Pearson held it for him ; and it was never, as it is be- 
lieved, transferred to Mr. Adamthwaite. Mr. Pearson never resided at Bowes. 
For some time after his appointment there was no regular curate, the neighbour- 
ing clergymen generally officiating. The first signature in the register, after the 
death of Mr. Parker, is Mr. Adamthwaite's, in June 1797. Mr. Adamthwaite 
was curate from 1797 to 1810. He died at Cotherstone, in 1811, aged 37. Mr. 
Pearson was vicar of Misterton, and for thirty-seven years minister of "West 
Stockwith, near Gainsborough. He died May 5, 1809, in the 62d year of his age. 
There is a tablet to his memory in West Stockwith Church. 

5[ Took possession Jan. 7, 1810; died May 29,1822, aged 60; buried, June 1, 
1S22, in the south-west corner of the churchyard. 

"Died, at Bowes, on the 29th nit., aged 60 years, the Rev. Richard Wilson, 
vicar of Bowes, and incumbent curate of Whorlton, in the county of Durham, 
much respected and sincerely lamented. He was a native of the neighbourhood 
of Kendal, and reflected credit on the county which bred and nurtured him. Jie 
possessed great strength and originality of mind; had a high sense of the obli- 
gation of moral duty ; and, by benevolence and kindness, was ever active in pro- 
moting the welfare of his fellow-creatures."— Westmoreland Gazette, June 8, 
1822. 

** See Attorney-General v. Craddock, Mylne and Craig's Reports, iii. S5. 
N 



1 78 EDWIN AND EMMA. 

this endowment, the Rev. Charles Parkin left a scholarship at Cam- 
bridge for the benefit of the school.* 

Several of the incumbents appear to have been masters of the 
school. 

* See Cambridge Calendar: Pembroke College. 



Note III. 

" There beauteous Emma flourish' 'd fair." — Ver. ii. 

RAILTON FAMILY. 

The earliest traces of the Railton family which I have met with 
exist in the parish registers of Bowes. Several of these registers 
precede the mournful record of the burial of Martha Railton. There 
is nothing, however, to show the relationship between William Rayl- 
ton, who died in 1689, and John Railton, the father of Martha, who 
died in 1713. It is probable, however, that John was a son of Wil- 
liam. 

The parents of Martha kept the George Inn in Bowes, of which 
her brother John was the landlord before and after the death of her 
widowed mother in 1741. 

There is no ground for supposing that the parents of Martha, 
or any of their children, except John, belonged to the Society of 
Friends at any period of their lives. 

Tamar Laidman, the younger sister of Martha Railton, was a 
regular attendant at church as long as her advanced age would 
permit her. 

It will be seen below, that in 1726 there was a marriage at Bowes 
between John Laidman and Elizabeth Railton, who had in the pre- 
vious year been illegally married. This Elizabeth Railton was pro- 
bably the sister of Martha and Tamar. 

Of Martha Railton, the interesting heroine of the ballad of Ed- 
win and Emma, but little is now known. Tamar, her younger sis- 
ter, used to say that she well remembered all the melancholy cir- 
cumstances of her sister's death ; and, speaking of her personal 
appearance, she was wont to say, " Martha was the bonniest lass of 
any of us;" adding, that her own granddaughter, Martha Laidman, 



180 EDWIN AND EMMA. 

who was of fair complexion, much resembled her unfortunate sister. 
Tamar Laidman was often visited by strangers passing through 
Bowes, on account, it may naturally be supposed, of her close rela- 
tionship to Martha Eailton, and was frequently required to tell the 
sad story of her sister's untimely death, receiving many a half- 
crown as a recompense. She was well known to some now living, 
and more particularly to the Misses Taylor, now of Richmond, who 
also knew her granddaughter Martha, and who remember that 
Tamar occasionally went to Cockfield to visit a female relative, who 
was a Quaker ; in all probability her niece Sarah, who married 
George Dixon. 

Tamar is described as having been hale and healthy till within a 
year or two previous to her death, when by a fall she broke her 
thigh-bone. She used to say that she hardly knew her own age ; 
and it appears that she was not so old as stated in the register. 
The baptism of Martha the heroine is not extant. The register, 
however, records the baptism and burial of an elder sister, Martha. 
Our heroine Martha was therefore probably born shortly after May 
1695. 

John Eailton, brother of Martha and Tamar, at an early age 
married a Quaker, and became himself a member of the same per- 
suasion. Frequent mention is made of him by the author of John 
Buncle, Esq., who designates him Jack Eailton the Quaker. 

He appears to have become the landlord of the George Inn when 
very young, and afterwards to have resided in Newcastle-upon- 
Tyne. He returned to Bowes, and continued there till between 1755 
and 1760. His property became gradually impaired, and was even- 
tually sold in 1757. He is supposed to have ruined himself by im- 
proving the road over Stanemore, having spent a great deal of money 
for that purpose, in the hope of increasing the custom of his house. 
The result, however, disappointed him ; as, formerly, travellers 
whose horses were exhausted by the bad state of the roads were 
glad to stop at the George, the first inn after crossing Stanemore; 
but when the road was improved, they preferred going on to Greta- 
bridge. 



KAILTON FAMILY. 



181 



The numerous family of John Railton were all born at Bowes. 
Most of his children appear to have belonged to the Society of 
Friends. His wife Barbara died in 1755. There is reason, how- 
ever, to believe that he continued at Bowes for some time after her 
death, inasmuch as, according to the tradition of Bella Sayer, who 




UNICORN INN! FORMERLY THE GEORGE INN. 



Avas a servant at the George, the mistress of the house was called 
Tace. This must have been the daughter Tace, who, as of her 
three elder sisters two were at that time married and one was dead, 
was then probably her father's housekeeper. 

In adverse circumstances, then, John Bailton quitted his native 
village, and once more turned his steps to Newcastle-upon-Tyne. 
That he left Bowes before 1760 will be seen from the deeds of 12th 
and 13th May 1760. At his new residence he again married, and 
there died, leaving his widow surviving him. His second wife was 
also a Quaker. 

I do not propose to speak in detail of his children. His eldest 
son John, at the time of his death at Staindrop, was not a Quaker. 



182 EDWIN AND EMMA. 

His son Thomas went to live at Barnard Castle. He was not a 
very strict Quaker, and before his death ceased altogether to be 
one. He was, however, by permission, buried in the Eriends' bu- 
rial-ground at Lartington. 

George, the eldest son of Thomas, was never a Quaker, though 
he attended the meetings ; neither did his daughter Anne belong to 
the Society. George lived some years in the service of the late Sir 
James Graham, and afterwards of the late Miss Lee, of Staindrop. 

John, the youngest son of Thomas Eailton, now living at Bar- 
nard Castle, served his apprenticeship to a cooper in that town, 
and when out of his time went to London, where he engaged as 
cooper to an East Indiaman, out of which vessel he was pressed on 
board the Arrogant 74. He was discharged from the St. Domingo 
74 in 1810, having been afflicted with paralysis, which almost de- 
prived him of the use of his right side. He had no pension allowed 
him, though he had served upwards of eight years. Sir James 
Graham, however, interceded, and obtained for him a pension of 8/. 
a-year. 

John states that he has some recollection of a relative, a Quaker, 
in London, who kept a large book-shop. This might be the hus- 
band of his aunt Mary, who married and lived in London. 

The George Inn* belonged to the Baylton family at a very early 
period. 

* In a stable on the north side of the inn-yard, over a door (on the north side 
of the building), is a lintel, having the following letters and year cut in it : 



S7 



06 



The door-posts and lintel seem to have belonged to some older building. The 
initials may be intended to indicate the name of John Railton the elder, or more 
probably the name of his son John Railton the younger, who was bom in 1706. 



RAILTON FAMILY. 183 

Extract from an Analysis of the Premises conveyed to Hariby and 
others by an Indenture of the Ath December 1656. 



Name of Tenant. 


No. of Messuages. 


No. of Closes. 


Names of Closes. 


Acre 


Frances Railton, ^ 










widow, and 


. . 2 . . 


. . 2 . . 


. The Two Crofts . 


. 2 


William Railton J 




3 . . 
1 . . 


. Highfields . . 
Kilmond . . . 


. 6 
. 3 






1 . . 


. Thackholme . . 


. 4 



15 

and 4 Cattle gates in the Cow Close (pasture). 
4 do. in the New Pasture. 

Ancient annual rental 6s. lOd. 

By an Indenture dated 11th Nov. 1703, and made between John 
Raylton of Bowes, in the county of York, innkeeper, of the one part, 
and John Cutter of Ravensworth, in the said county of York, baker, 
of the other part ; the said John Raylton mortgaged to the said John 
Cutter " all that messuage or dwelling-house wherein the said John 
" Raylton did then inhabit and dwell ; and all that little house called 
" the Stable ; and all those closes, &c." 

By another Indenture, dated in the year 1722, and made between 
Elizabeth Cutter, widow and administratrix of the said John Cutter, 
of the one part, and Elizabeth Raylton of Bowes, aforesaid, widow, 
relict, and executrix of the last" Will and Testament, of John Raylton 
the father, her late husband, deceased, of the other part ; the said 
Elizabeth Cutter released the said premises to the said Elizabeth 
Raylton. 

By another Indenture, dated 22 April 1729, made between the said 
Elizabeth Raylton of the one part, and John Raylton, then late of 
Bowes, aforesaid, innkeeper, but then of the town and county of New- 
castle-upon-Tyne, only son and heir-at-law, and also devisee of and in 
the last Will and Testament of the said John Raylton, then late of 
Bowes aforesaid, innkeeper, his late father, deceased, of the other 
part ; the said Elizabeth Raylton released unto the said John Raylton 
(the son) all her interest in the said premises. 

By Indenture of Assignment, dated the 2d May 1754, and made 
between the said John Raylton (the son) of the first part, Richard 
Holmes of Stub-house, in the county of Durham, gentleman, of the 
second part, and John Hanby of Eastwood, in the said county of York, 
gentleman, of the third part ; the said John Raylton (the son) mort- 
gaged the said premises to or in trust for the said Richard Holmes. 

By Indentures of Lease and Release, dated 8th and 9th February 
1757, and made between the said John Raylton (the son) of the one 



184 EDWIN AND EMMA. 

part, and Philip Brunskell of Bowes, aforesaid, gentleman ; George 
Hutton of Sedgefield, in the county of Durham, gentleman ; Hugh 
Tootell of Wycliffe, in the said county of York, gentleman ; William 
Stephenson of Barnard Castle, in the said county of Durham, maltster ; 
William Kipling of Bowes, aforesaid, drover ; and Bobert Studham of 
West Thirkly, in the said county of Durham, yeoman, of the other 
part ; the said John Baylton conveyed unto the said Philip Brunskell, 
George Hutton, Hugh Tootell, William Stephenson, William Kipling, 
and Bobert Studham, " all that his messuage or tenement situate, 
" standing, and being in Bowes aforesaid, commonly called or known 
" by the name or sign of the George Inn, and also all those several 
" closes, &c," upon trust to sell. 

By Indentures dated the 2d and 3d May 1757, made between the 
said Philip Brunskell, George Hutton, Hugh Tootell, William Stephen- 
son, William Kipling, and Bobert Studham of the first part, the said 
John Baylton (the son) of the second part, and William Bailey of Bowes, 
aforesaid, yeoman, of the third part ; the said Philip Brunskell, George 
Hutton, Hugh Tootell, William Stephenson, William Kipling, and 
Bobert Studham, and John Baylton, conveyed unto the said William 
Bailey the said premises, subject to the said mortgage made to Bichard 
Holmes. 

By Indentures of Lease and Belease, dated the 12th and 13th May 
1760, the latter between William Bailey, yeoman, and Susanna his wife, 
first part, Bichard Holmes, gentleman, second part, and C. Wilkinson, 
Esq., third part ; in consideration of 7001. to said Bichard Holmes, and of 
201. to said William Bailey, by said C. Wilkinson paid (making together 
7201., the purchase-money), the said William Bailey and Susanna his 
wife, and Bichard Holmes, did grant, release, and confirm unto the 
said C. Wilkinson and his heirs, All that messuage, dwelling-house, or 
tenement, part whereof was lately erected and built, wherein John 
Baylton lately lived, with the orchards, gardens, stables, brewhouses, 
and all other outhouses and conveniences on the back side thereof, or 
thereunto adjoining or belonging or appertaining, commonly called or 
known by the name of the George Inn ; and also all those five meadow 
closes, pieces, or parcels of ground on the back side of the house, com- 
monly called or known by the name or names the same were called 
and known, containing by estimation twelve acres, or thereabouts, were 
the same more or less, which said houses and premises were situate 
and being in and within the town and township of Bowes aforesaid, 
and boundered on the houses and lands late of John Barnes deceased, 
, and then of William Musgrave, on or towards the east, the houses and 

'L— lands late of Cuthbert Vazey, but then of Mr. William Kipling, on or 

towards the west, a common pasture belonging to Bowes aforesaid, 
called the Cow Close, on or towards the north, and the town street of 



EAILTON FAMILY. 185 

Bowes aforesaid on or towards the south ; and also all those eight 
beastgates, pasturegates, or cattlegates in the said pasture called Bowes 
Cow Close, and also all those four other beastgates, pasturegates, or 
cattlegates in another common pasture, and the proportional part and 
share of the soil and ground of the said two pastures upon any division 
or allotment to be thereafter made of them or either of them ; all 
which said premises he within the parish of Bowes aforesaid, and were 
late in the possession or occupation of the said John Baylton, his un- 
dertenants, or assigns ; and also all other the messuages, &c. of the 
said William Bailey situate at Bowes aforesaid, late the estate of said 
John Kaylton, with the appurts, to hold unto and to the use of the said 
Christopher Wilkinson, his heirs and assigns for ever. 

Through the last-named purchaser the property devolved on the 
present owner, Christopher Cradock, Esq. The house is still an 
inn; but the sign is now and has long been that of the Unicorn. 
The part adjoining the street is no doubt that which is mentioned 
in the deed as lately erected and built. 






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Note IY. 

" Till Edwin came, the pride ofsv;ains.'" — Yer. vi. 

WRIGHTSON FAMILY. 

To the name of Henry Wrightson, of Bowes, whose burial register 
bears date July 11, 1688, the designation of yeoman is annexed. It 
may therefore be concluded that he was possessed of a small estate 
in land. 

As far as can now be ascertained, he had three sons and two 
daughters. His wife died about two years before him, and two sons 
and one daughter survived him. 

His daughter, Isabel Wrightson, seems to have been possessed 
of some personal property, which, with the exception of two small 
legacies, of like amount, to her brothers, she gave to her executrix, 
Alice Whitell. At the date of her will she resided at Bowes, but 
subsequently removed to Gilmonby, where she died in 1702. 

Henry "Wrightson is mentioned in his sister's will before his 
brother Boger, and was in all probability the elder brother. He 
was married, but left no children surviving him. The place of his 
residence it would now be very difficult to identify. It was pro- 
bably between the Free Grammar School and the Archway now 
standing. The situation of some part of his land may be ascertained 
from the description in the deeds of conveyance of adjoining pro- 
perty. 

By an indenture bearing date the 21st May, in the sixth year of the 
reign of King George the First, and made between John Winnington 
of the one part and Margaret Morland of the other part, a mortgage 
was created of "all those two mansions, messuages or dwelling-houses, 
and garden, with one yard or garth on the back side thereof, lying or 
adjoining, together with a house or stable thereupon standing and 
being ; and all those two pieces or parcels of ground called or known 



190 



EDWIN AND EMMA. 



by the name of Croft thereto adjoining, containing by estimation one 
acre and a half, be the same more or less, adjoining on the ground 
then or late belonging to Widow Wrightson and William Hanby on or 
towards the east, the Cow Close belonging to Bowes aforesaid on or to- 
wards the north, the grounds then or late of Samuel Newton on or to- 
wards the west, and the King's high street on or towards the south." 

By an indenture bearing date 28th October 1738, made between 
John Hedworth. (executor of Margaret Morland) of the one part, and 
Thomas Laidman of Bowes of the other part, the mortgage (for 999 
years) of the above premises was assigned to Thomas Laidman. 

By an indenture bearing date 7th July, 1740, made between the said 
Thomas Laidman of the one part, and the Kev. Joseph Taylor of the 
other part, the mortgage of the above premises was assigned to the 
Rev. Joseph Taylor. 

By indentures of lease and release bearing date 14th and 15th April, 
1741, the release made between John Winnington and Mary his wife of 
the first part, the Rev. Joseph Taylor of the second part, and Philip Brun- 
skill of Bowes (a trustee) of the third part, the above premises were 
conveyed absolutely to the Rev. Joseph Taylor; the boundary being 
thus described : " Adjoining on the ground late belonging to Widow 
Wrightson and William Hanby, but now to Sarah Petty and Margaret 
Bland, on or towards the east, the Cow Close belonging to Bowes afore- 
said on or towards the north, the ground late of Samuel Newton, but 
now of Joseph Taylor, clerk, on or towards the west, and the King's 
high street on or towards the south." 

Henry Wrightson died in November 1705. 

In addition to his real estate, he seems to have possessed no in- 
considerable personal property. Being childless, it might have been 
expected that his brother Roger would have succeeded to the bulk 
of his worldly wealth. It was far otherwise, however. Having 
made ample provision for his widow, a legacy of 10/. is given to his 
brother Roger after the death of his widow; and another legacy is 
given in these terms : " To my said brother Roger Wrightson the 
further sume of twenty pounds, provided he behave himself with- 
out debait, strife, and litigious unlawfull suites to or with my exe- 
cutors." 

The charitable supposition that their father's landed property 
was apportioned equally between them, would afford no sufficient 
justification for Henry's conduct in disinheriting his brother. 



WRIGHTSON FAMILY. 191 

After giving to his wife his messuage in Bowes, wherein he 
lived, with the adjoining croft and one cattlegate, to hold the same 
so long as she should continue his widow, he devised all his real 
estate in tail to Thomas Brunskill ; and, in default of issue male 
of the body of Thomas Brunskill, he then gave and bequeathed 
his real estate to Christopher Whitell, in fee simple. It is uncertain 
what relationship existed between the testator and the families of 
Brunskill and Whitell. His landed property thus passed into the 
Brunskill family. 

The legatees under Henry Wrightson's will are numerous, and 
some of them are mentioned as being relations. It is not impro- 
bable that the Wrightson family either came originally from a dis- 
tant part of Yorkshire, the neighbourhood of Borobridge, or that 
some of them had removed to that locality from Bowes, as the 
names of Buck, Orton, and Wrightson are found in the registers of 
Kirkby Hill, near Borobridge, in which neighbourhood, it will be 
seen below, the husband of Boger Wrightson's daughter Hannah 
lived. 

Roger Wrightson, the other surviving son of Henry Wrightson 
the elder, was married, and had by his wife Elizabeth five or six 
children. Two daughters were living at the time of the melancholy 
death of his son Roger. 

The residence of Roger Wrightson, the King's Head Inn, as far 
as I have been able to ascertain, was on the site of the house now 
standing immediately to the west of the Archway, which has been 
already mentioned. The description of the premises is given in the 
deeds of conveyance to the Rev. Joseph Taylor. 

1735. Sept. 24, 25. Indentures of lease and release made between 
Charles Newton, of St. Martin's-le-Grand, citizen and cutler of London 
(son and heir of Samuel Newton, late citizen and cutler of London, and 
of Sarah Newton, his wife, both deceased), and Mary, wife of the said 
Charles Newton, of the one part, and the Rev. Joseph Taylor, of Bowes, 
in the county of York, clerk, of the other part, of "all that messuage, 
tenement, or dwelling-house situate and being in Bowes, in the county 
of York, commonly called or known by the name of the King's Head 
House, with all and every the outhouses thereunto belonging, together 



192 



EDWIN AND EMMA. 



with the ground called the Croft on the back side thereof, and a garth 
called the Butt Garth ; and also all that piece of ground or close called 
the West end of the town, all which were formerly in the tenure or 
occupation of John Allison, his under-tenants or assigns, and were late 
or some time in the tenure or occupation of Thomas Kipling, his under- 
tenants or assigns, and are situate and being within the lordship of 
Bowes aforesaid ; and also those several gates of pasture or pasturage for 
cattle to be had and taken in the several closes, grounds, and places 
hereinafter mentioned, that is to say, two gates in Bowes west pasture, 
and five gates in Bowes Cow Close." * * * (Consideration 1811.) 




HOUSE ON THE SITE OF THE KING'S HEAD INN, 



The King's Head House was rebuilt by the Rev. Joseph Taylor. 

It may here be noticed, that there was subsequently an inn, with 
the sign of the King's Head, on the west side of the late Mrs. Dent's 
house, which belonged to and was kept by a person of the name of 
Alderson. This house probably was opened as the King's Head 
Inn on the demolition of the old inn. Mrs. Dent's house was built 
on a vacant piece of ground by Mr. George Alderson Taylor, as a 
residence for his sister. This property was left to Mr. G. A. Taylor 
by his father's will. Mrs. Dent's house was sold to Mr. W. Shaw 
after Mr. Taylor's death. 



WEIGHTSON FAMILY. 193 

Roger Wrightson appears to have been possessed of greater 
personal property than his brother, and was doubtless one of the 
principal inhabitants of the parish, as he filled the office of church- 
warden eleven times. 

The King's Head Inn does not appear to have belonged to 
Roger Wrightson, nor does his will show that he had any other 
real estate than what he derived from his father, who, by his will,* 
dated 23d May 1688, "gave and bequeathed to his son Roger 
Wrightson, his heirs and assigns, for ever, all those parcels of 
ground commonly called the Mirekeld, containing, by estimation, 
fourteen acres, more or less, and one lodge standing thereupon ; and 
also two cattle -gates in the Cow Close belonging to Bowes." 

Roger Wrightson died in April 1 729, leaving his wife and one 
daughter surviving him. Alice Wrightson, the widow of Henry 
Wrightson, lived only about a week after attesting the will of her 
brother-in-law Roger, who died a month after the execution of his 
will. His widow survived him but four months. The family and 
name of Wrightson were then extinct in Bowes ; and the pedigree 
must be traced under another name and in another district. 

The estate of Mirekeld, Roger Wrightson, by his will, dated the 
15th March 1729, bequeathed to his widow for her life, and after 
her death to his daughter Hannah in fee-simple. 

On the death of his widow, which so soon followed his own, this 
estate passed to his only surviving child, his daughter Hannah, 
whose memory has been branded alike in village annals and by the 
poet's pen. It is gratifying, however, to discover some evidence, 
however slight, of the existence of filial affection on her part. On 
two interesting occasions, after her marriage, she visits Bowes, and 
her infant children are borne to the font of her own village church. 
It may be that, a few years later, she again revisited her native 
place, and, watching over her aged parents in their last hours, called 
to mind her brother's fatal sickness, and bitterly regretted her 
cruelty to his beloved Martha. 

* I have not been able to meet with a copy of this will. 
O 



194 EDWIN AND EMMA. 

Tradition, indeed, tells that her latter years were much embit- 
tered by a remorseful feeling that her poverty was the punishment 
of her unfeeling conduct.* 

John Kaper, at the time of his marriage with Hannah Wright- 
son, in 1718, lived in the parish of Kirkby-super-Moram, or Kirkby- 
on-the-Moor, now generally called Kirkby Hill, near Borobridge, in 
which neighbourhood, as has been already surmised, there were 
probably some relatives of the Wrightson family ; a circumstance 
which may account for Hannah Wrightson's marriage with a per- 
son living at a considerable distance from Bowes. 

John Raper and his wife Hannah had, as far as I have been able 
to discover, but three children. At the time of the birth of their 
son Henry they were living at Longthorpe, a township in the parish 
of Kirkby Hill. 

In 1729, and up to 1733, they were living at York Gate Inn, in 
Leeming Lane. It was, till recently, a large posting-house. It is 
distant about two miles from Wath, and about seven from Borough- 
bridge. 

In 1738, and also in 1744, John Raper was living at Morker, in 
the parish of Ripon. After this period there is no distinct trace of 
his residence. In the course of twenty-six years, then, we find that 
he had several different places of abode; and in his case the old 
adage seems to have been verified. His worldly fortune, it may 
be inferred, did not prosper; and his wife's paternal estate was had 
recourse to for pecuniary assistance. Accordingly, by indentures 
of lease and release, dated the 23d and 24th June 1738, and made 
between John Raper, of Morker, in the county of York, and Han- 
nah his wife, of the one part, and Gregory Elsley, of Patrick Bromp- 



* This tradition is supported by the testimony of several persons. The late 
Mrs. Winn, of .Richmond (who was horn in 1760), well knew the history of Han- 
nah Raper, and used to say that she died a miserable death. To the same pur- 
port a communication was once made by a granddaughter of Hannah Raper, 
whom Miss Taylor met with many years ago at Kirkstall Forge, near Leeds, 
where she then kept a small shop, and went errands to Leeds and other places 
for the firm of Butler and Beacroft. Her surname is not now remembered : she 
was known by the familiar appellation of Old Hannah. 



WEIGHTSON FAMILY. 195 

ton, of the other part, the estate of Mirekeld was mortgaged to se- 
cure the sum of 100?. 

It is stated* that shortly after this time Hannah Eaper died, 
leaving Henry, her eldest son and heir-at-law, surviving her. The 
only evidence in support of this statement appears to be the fact of 
Hannah Eaper not being a party to the deeds of the 27th and 28th 
April 1744. It is difficult to account for her concurrence being 
dispensed with by the purchaser of the property : yet the absence 
of any recital of her death in the deed of the 28th April is of 
itself sufficient to raise some doubt as to her having died previ- 
ously to that date. However, the register of the burial of " Han- 
nah Eaper, the wife of John Eaper of Milby, in 1757," coupled with 
the traditional evidence already alluded to, leaves but little doubt 
that the above statement is erroneous. 

It is uncertain when John Eaper returned to the neighbourhood 
of Borobridge after his residence at Morker. There is some reason 
for supposing that, before his wife's death, he was living at either 
Dunsforth or Eocliffe, which are not far distant from Milby, where 
he was residing in 1757. That he was alive some years after this 
time is quite certain, the late Mrs. Winn having seen him when he 
was in very reduced circumstances, and engaged in some mean em- 
ployment. 

Henry Eaper married about the year 1 744, living, at that time 
and for some years afterwards, at Milby, a township partly in the 
parish of Aldborough and partly in the parish of Kirkby Hill ; at 
which last place he appears to have resided in 1750, and afterwards 
to have removed to Longthorpe, where he died. 

About the time of Henry's marriage, either for his own or his 
father's wants, the estate at Bowes was sold; and by indentures of 
lease and release, dated the 27th and 28th April 1744, and made 
between John Eaper, then of Morker, yeoman, and Henry Eaper, 
then of Milby, yeoman, son and heir-apparent of the said John 
Eaper, of the first part ; Gregory Elsley, of the second part ; and 

* Decree in the Chancery suit of Edwards v. Lord Rokeby (Feb. 1817). 



196 EDWIN AND EMMA. 

Ambrose Edwards, of Barnard Castle, of the third part, the mort- 
gage debt of 1 12/. being paid off, and the further sum of 80/. being 
paid to John Raper and his son, the estate of Mirekeld was con- 
veyed to Ambrose Edwards in fee-simple. It continued in this fa- 
mily till 18 10, when it was purchased from Dr. George Edwards by 
the Rev. John Headlam. 



; 



WRIGHTSON FAMILY. 



197 






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200 EDWIN AND EMMA. 

Extract from a Schedule (annexed to an indenture of the 29th 
November 1682) of the severall messuages, lands, and te- 
nem ts , in the lordshipp of Bowes, in the county of Yorke, ac- 
cording to the pportion of the severall ancient yearely rents 
of the sayd messuages, lands, and tenem ts , and of the severall 
sumes of money by each of them respectively paid for the 
purchase of the pmisses. 
" Henry Wrightson holdeth one messuage with lands and tene- 
ments there, of the yearly ancient rent of three shillings and one 
penny, and paid for the purchase of the same seven shillings and 
five pence." 

1694.* June 22. The Register went into Richmond. 

John Pears, Curate. 

Rodger Wrightson 

(for Redmirebank), 

/ Churchwardens. 
Richard Whitell, 

of Forlands, 

1698.f May 25. Copy of baptisms, marriages, and deaths, from 

the time of last visitation to that for the current year. 

J. Pears, Minister de Bowes. 

Hen. Wrightson, t 

_. > Churchwardens. 

Geo. Sater, J 



Rodger Wrightson served the office of churchwarden of Bowes 
also in the years 1700, 1701, 1702, 1703, 1704, 1705 (for Mr. Whitell), 
1706 (for George Watson), 1711 (for William Harker), 1714 (for 
Thomas Petty), 1721. 

BOWES CHURCH.— COMMISSION FOR ALLOTTING PEWS. J 
The third pew from the north door on left-hand side : 
f Henry Wrightson, 2. 
No. 22 X Eodger Wrightson, 1. 

if ^ ^J $fi s%c 

* Bowes Parish Register. 

t Extracted from the Registry of the Consistory Court of the Archdeaconry 
of Richmond. % Bowes Parish Register, 1703. 



WRIGHTSOX FAMILY. 201 



WILL OF ISABEL WRIGHTSON.* 



In y e name of God, Amen. I, Isabel Wrightson, of Bowes, in y e 
county of Torke, being in good health of body, and of a sound and 
pfect minde and memory, praised be God for y e same, doe make 
and ordaine this my last will and testament, in manner and forme 
following, viz 1 , first and principally, I commende my soule into y e 
hands of Almighty God, hoping through y e merits, death, and pas- 
sion of my Saviour Jesus Christ to have full and free pdon and for- 
givenesse of all nry sins, and to inherit everlasting life, and my body 
I committ to y e earth, to be decently buryed at y e discretion of my 
executrix hereafter named ; and as touching y e disposition of all 
such temporal! estate as it hath pleased God to bestow upon me, I 
give and dispose as followeth : First, I will that my debts and 
funerall charges shall be paid and discharged. Item, I give unto my 
brother, Henry Wrightson, one shilling. Item, I give unto my bro- 
ther, Eoger Wrightson, one shilling ; and all the rest of my per- 
sonal! estate, goods, and chattels whatsoever, I doe give and be- 
queath unto Elice Whitell, which I constitute and ordaine sole 
executrix of this my last will and testament ; and I doe hereby re- 
voke, disannull, and make void all former wills by me heretofore 
made. In witnesse whereof, I, the said Isabel Wrightson, to this 
my last will and testament doe set my hande and seale, this twelvth 

day of Octob r 1698. 

her 
Isabel + Wrightson. 

niarke. 

Sealed and delivered in y e psence of us, John Key, Thomas Key. 



Proved on the 17th April 1703, by Alicia Whitell. 



* Extracted from the Registry of the Consistory Court of the Archdeaconry 
of Richmond. 



202 EDWIN AND EMMA. 



BOND ON GRANT OF PROBATE OF THE WILL OF ISABEL 
WRIGHTSON,* 

No vi nt universi p pretes nos Thomam Emerson de Corn Parke 
in Com Ebor Yeoman et Carolum Whitell de Gillmondby in 
Compto Gen teneri et firmr obligari Revendo in Xto pri et 
dno dno Nicolao pmissione divina Cestrien epo nee non venli 
viro Thomse Waite Arm Legm Bacco in et p totum Ar- 
chinatum Richmond Cestrien Dioces Comissario ltme con- 
stituto In Quadragint. Libris bonae et Legalis monet Anglise 
solvend eisdem redo pri et Comissario antedict aut eor cert 
attornat Exoribus adminibus sive assignatis suis ad quam 
quidem Soluton bene et fidlr faciend obligamus nos et utrumq 
nrum p se p toto et in Solido Heredes Exores et adminires 
nros con m et div m p presentes sigill nris Sigillat. Dat. decimo 
Septimo die mensis Aprilis Anno dni 1703. 

The condition of this obligation is such, that if Alice, the wife of 
the above bounden Thomas Emerson, doe well and truly execute, 
observe, pforme, fulfill, and keep the last will and testament of Isabel 
Wrightson, late of Gillmondby aforesaid, within the archdeaconry 
of Richmond, deced, in paying all her debts and legacies, soe farr as 
her goods will extend, and law shall bind her : If also she doe ex- 
hibit into the Registry of the said archdeaconry a true and pfect 
inventory of all and singular the goods, chatts, and creditts, which 
late were and did belong unto the said deced, and make a true and 
just account of the same, when she shall be thereunto lawfully 
called, and moreover (if need require), enter into such further bond 
with more sufficient sureties for pformance of the prmises as the 
Commissary of the said archdeaconry for the time being shall think 
requisite and needfull; and lastly, save, defend, and harmless keep 
the above named Lord Bishop of Chester, his Commissary, and all 
their officers and ministers, by reason of the prmises : Then this pit 

* Extracted from the Registry of the Consistory Court of the Archdeaconry 
of Richmond. 



WRIGHTSON FAMILY. 203 

obligation to be void and of none effect, or else to remain in full 

force and vertue. 

Tho. Emerson. O 

Char. Whitell. O 
Signat. sigillat. et delibat. in pntia nri, 
John Pears. 
her 

ISABELL O BlNION. 
marke. 



INVENTORY OF THE GOODS, &c. OF ISABEL WRIGHTSON, 
DECEASED.* 

A perfect Inventory of all y e Goods and Chattels belonging to 
Isabell Wrightson, of Gillmanby, deceased, aprised by us whose 
names are heare under written, this 6th day of Aprill 1703. 

£ s. d. 
Imprimis, Hir purse and apparell, and 2 rings . . .300 
It. One bed stead, one table, one cubertt, 2 chists, 

and 2 lesser chists, and 3 coffers . . , 17 
It. 2 fether beds, 2 bolsters, 3 pair of blanketts, 4 

short pillows, 5 happins, a coverlitt, and some 

other beding 2 15 

It. 3 sheets, 4 co d . pillivers and a towell, and some 

other small linning 10 

It. In puter and brass, and a lanteron .. . . 18 
It. 2 chares, a forme, * * 2 skeels, and 2 kans, and 

some other small matter of wood yessell . .030 
It. One fire shoule, and tongues, and recking crooke, 

and fring-pan, and some other small matters of 

iron 

It. And sacks, and pookes, and peats, and coals 
It. In some smaU things left at John Eichardson's 
It. In some old things of household goods . 
It. In money own to y e Testator 

Toto c 

Aprissers, Char. Whitell, Charles Newby, Will. Coats, 
William Hanby. 

* Extracted from the Registry of the Consistory Court of the Archdeaconry 
of Richmond. 




204 t: tts - a>td emma. 



WILL OF HENRY WEIGHTSOS OT I >WES ■ 

In the name of God, Amen. I, Henry Wrightson, of Be- 
the Connty of Yorke, yeoman, being infirm in body, but of sound 
and disposeing memory, doe make and ordaine this my las 
and testament, in manner and forme following, hereby rerokeing 
all former wills by me heretofore made. And first, I comend my 
soul to Alhnighty God, trusting solely in his mercies and the merrits 
of Jesus Christ my alone Saviour for the salvaeon of my soul, and 
my body to be decently buried att the discretion of my executors 
hereinafter named. And as to my reall and personall estate, my 
will is as followeth : Imprimis, I give, graunt, and deryse unto my 
dear wife Aolice all that my messuage wherein I now lire in Bows 
afores 4 , w* the croft on the backside thereof thereto adjoyning, 
and one catle gate in Bows Wes: Pasture in the parish of Bows 
afores*, to hold the same soo long as she shall continue my widdow 
onely and no longer ; and in case she shall not att any time dureing 
LtT —:."..". ;--L. : .1 as ■;..:. :: ; ; :_:nk £:: : : enjoy the s : devysed pre- 
mi-ff. "- v.: It."."""t :"_r sanir ;.n:1 :"_:_r r : irf::i.n :"_-:■_ t :: :"_;:: i:y " .-. 
is that forty shifl s of lawfull English money shall be yearly paid 
her in lieu thereof, by two halfe yearly payments and equal porcons, 
for the time she shall continue my widow as afores d onely, and the 
same to be issuing out of the premises afores d , and the lands herein- 
after derysed or any part thereof. Item, I give and devyse unto 
Mr. Thomas Brunskell of Bowes afores d , and to the heirs male of 
his body lawfully begotten or to be begotten, all and singular my 
lands, tenements, closes, and parcells of ground in Bows afores d , 
and within the precincts and territories thereof, and all my several! 
cattlegaits and pasture for catle in the grasseing called Bowes West 
Pasture afores d , and Cow Close, with ratable share therein and 
thereof upon any division thereof hereafter to be made, and the 
revercon of the s* messuage, croft, and catlegate in Bows TVest 

* Extracted from the Begistzj of the Consistory Court of the Archdeaconry 

c: I»:>:_n::iA. 



WRIGHTSON FAMILY. 205 

Pasture afores d : To have and to hold the s d lands and pastur gates 
imediately from and after my decease, to the s d Mr. Thomas Brun- 
skell and his heires male for ever, and to hold the revercon of the 
s d messuage, croft, and catlegate in Bows West Pasture afores d , soe 
devysed as above specified to him the said Mr. Thomas Brunskell 
and his heires male for ever ; subject, nevertheless, to the severall 
annuall payments and sums of money hereinafter mentioned, viz 1 , 
to the payment of three pound per anum payable half yearly by 
equall proportion to my said wife dureing her naturall life (over 
and besides the fourty shill 8 p anum above limited and devysed in 
case she shall not think fitt to enjoy the s d devys d messuage, croft, 
and catlegate dureing her widowhood as afores d ), and of tenn shill 9 
p anum, payable half yearly, to Katherine Bayles, of Bowes, widow, 
for her naturall life, and on nonpayment thereof itt shall be lawfull 
for them or either of them to enter upon the s d premises and to 
receive the yearly payments due and in arrear out of the profitts 
thereof. And my further will is, and I doe hereby give unto Mary 
Whitell, wife of Mr. Charles Whitell, of Gillmanby, in the parish 
of Bows afores d , and to their four children, Christopher, Charles, 
Katherine, and Sarah Whitell, forty pounds of lawfull English 
money, to be p d to them at the end of six months next after the 
marriage or the death of my s d wife, w ch shall first happen ; and in 
default thereof, itt shall be lawfull for them to enter upon the said 
messuage, croft, and catlegate above devysed, and detain the same 
untill the s d forty pounds be p d ; and I doe give tenn pounds more 
to be paid to them, and allso tenn pounds to be paid to my brother 
Roger Wrightson, att the end of three months next after the death 
of my said wife, and the s d severall sums of forty pounds and tenn 
pounds and tenn pounds to be paid to them att the times afores d , 
by the s d Mr. Thomas Brunskell, or his heires male, out of the lands 
and pmisses afores d , w ch shall stand chargeable therew th and subject 
to y e payment thereof. Item, my further mind is, that if y e s d Mr. 
Tho. Brunskell shall dye w th out issue male of his body lawfully be- 
gotten or to be begotten, then I doe hereby give and bequeath unto 
the s d Christopher Whitell, the son of Mr. Charles Whitell, and his 



206 EDWIN AND EMMA. 

heires, all and every y c said messuage, lands, tenem ts , and catlegates 
above mentioned, to hould the same unto him, his heires and assignes, 
forever ; and if in such case y e s d Mr. Thomas Brunskell shall dye 
w th out issue male as afores d , and the s d forty pounds and tenn pounds 
and tenn pounds soe given as afores d , or any part thereof, be before y e 
time paid and satisfied b}f him, that then the s d Christopher Whitell, 
his heires, executors, or administrators, shall pay back unto the 
executors or administrators of the s d Mr. Tho. Brunskell, att the 
time of his death, the s d forty pounds, tenn pounds, and tenn pounds, 
or soe much thereof as he or they or any of them shall then have 
really and bond fide paid and discharged. Item, I give unto my s d 
wife all my household goods, and one of my best kine at her own 
eleccon, and to my s d broth : Koger Wrightson the further sume of 
twenty pounds, provided he behave himselfe w th out debait, strife, 
and litigious unlawfull suites to or w th my executors, and I give to 
my nephew Rowland Orton five pounds, and to Ann Buck, Margret 
Buck, and Isabel! wife of Jn° Richardson, each of them five pounds. 
Item, I give to the said Mary Whitell five pounds, and to my cousin 
Phillip Allderson two shill s sixpence ; Tho. Wrightson of Crag, 
tenn shill s ; to Dority Richardson, one pound. Item, I give to the 
poor people of Bows afores d tenn shill s , to be distributed amongst 
them by my executors, and to Mr. Button of Brignall, and his 
chilldren, five shill s amongst them. Item, I give to Mary and Jane 
Richardson, daughters of Tho. Richardson of North Peild, five shill s 
each ; to Will 1 " Coats of West Gate, forty shill s ; and to Margret 
Clarkson and her chilldren, five shill s amongst them. Item, I give 
to Will m Kiplin one shilling, and to Ge° Sayer and his sone Jn°, 
each one shilling. Item, I give to my father-in-law, Stephen Buck, 
and to Rob* Dinsdalle, and my aunt Katherine Bayles, each of 
them two shill s sixpence. Item, I give to Rich d Binks and his two 
sons, amongst them, two shill s sixpence. Item, I give to the wife 
of James Sayer, and to Ge° Coats of Stony Keld, and his son 
Christopher, and to Peter Allinson of Cutherstone, each twelfe 
pence. All w ch legacies are to be p d by my executors hereinafter 
named w th in two years next after my death. Item, I discharge 



WRIGHTSON FAMILY. 207 

and remit to Tho. Kipling of Mell Waters, of and from all such 
sume and sumes of money, debt and debts, w ch be is now owing me, 
and hereby fully and freely give the same to him ; and all the rest 
and residue of my personall estate, goods, and chattels whatsoever, 
I doe give and bequeath unto my said wife Aolice, and the said Mr. 
Charles Whitell of Gillmonby afores d , elder, and the said Mr. Tho. 
Brunskell of Bows afores d , whom I hereby make sole executors of 
this my last will and testament. In wittness whereof I have here- 
unto set my hand and seale, this seavent day of Septemb 1- , in the 
fourth year of the reigne of bur sovereigne lady Queen Ann of Eng- 
land, &c. Annoq e domini one thousand seaven hundred and five. 

Sig. 
Henry O Wrightson. 

The signing, sealing, and publicacon of this will was attested in 
the pesence of the said Henry Wrightson, w th the words " to have 
and to hould the said lands, &c." writ in great letters, and the word 
'' pounds" in y e margent first put in, then witnessed by us, — Matt. 
Stodart, Chris. Alderson, jun., Peter Hamond, jun. 



Proved on the 22d day of January 1706. 



BOND ON GEANT OF PROBATE OF THE WILL OF HENEY 
WRIGHTSON* 

Novint universi p pretes nos Charollu Whitell de Gillmonby in 
Com Ebor Gen et Thoma Brunskill de Bowes in Com pto Gen 
et Aliciam Wrightson de Bowes pta in Com pto Vid teneri et 
firmr obligari Bendo in Xto pri et dno dno Nicolao perme 
dina Cestr epo necnon venl* viro Thomae Waite Anno Legm 
Bacco in et per totum Archinatum Eichmond Cestr Dioces 
Commissario ltime constituto In Ducentis Libris bona? et leglis 

* Extracted from the Eegistry of the Consistory Court of the Archdeaconry 
of Eichmond. 



208 EDWIN AND EMMA. 

monet Angl solvend eisdm Rendo pri et Commissario antedict 
aut eorum cert Attornat exoribus adminiribus sive assignatis 
suis ad quam quidem Soluton bene et fidlr faciend obligamus 
nos et utrumq nrum p se p toto et in solido heredes Exores 
adminires nros con m et div m p presentes Sigill nris sigill. Dat 
Vicesimo secundo die mensis Januarii Anno Dni 1706. 

The condition of this obligation is such, that if the above bound 
Charles Whitell, and Thomas Brunskill, and Alice Wrightson, do 
well and truly execute, observe, performe, fulfill, and keep the last 
will and testament of Henry Wrightson, late of Bowes aforesaid, 
within the archdeaconry of Richmond, deced, by paying all his 
debts, so farr as his goods will extend and the law shall bind them ; 
if also they do exhibite into this Registry of the said archdeaconry 
a true and pfect inventory of all and singular the goods, chattells, 
creditts, which of late were and did belong unto him the said deced, 
and make a true and just account of the same when they shall be 
thereunto lawfully called ; and moreover (if need require), enter into 
such further bond with more sufficient suerties for peformance of 
the pemises as the Comissary for the time being shall thinke need- 
full ; and lastly, save, defend, and harmless keep the above-named 
Lord Bishop of Chester, his Comissary aforesaid, and all other his 
officers and ministers, concerning the pemises : Then this obligation 
to be void, or else to remain in full force and vertue. 

Char. Whitell. O 
Tho. Brunskill. O 
mrk 

Alice Wrightson. O 
A 
Signat. sigillat. et delibat. in penti nri, 
Tho. Thwaites. 
Tho. Woodmass. 



WRIGHTSON FAMILY. 209 



INVENTORY OF THE GOODS, &c. OF MR. HENRY WR1GHTSON, 
DECEASED.* 

A true and perfect Inventory of all the Goods, movable and 
immovable, of Henry Wrightson, late of Bowes, deced, taken, 
viewed, and appraised by us whose names are under written, 

this twenty-second day of November, 1705: 

£ s. d. 

Imprimis, His purse and apparelL 05 00 CO 

Itm. One ruck of hay in the croft 02 00 00 

Itm. Two pieces of hay in the Clint Brow, one new 

ruck and an old piece 09 10 00 

Itm. One piece of hay standing in Woodcock ground . 03 10 00 

Itm. Four cowes, att £1 15s. apiece . . . . 07 00 00 

Itm. Two stears and one heffer 04 00 00 

Itm. Three stirks 02 14 00 

Itm. Two calves 01 15 00 

Itm. The husbandry geare 00 05 00 

Itm. One mare and a foall 03 10 00 

Itm. One younge mare 03 05 00 

Itm. Seaventy-eight old sheepe, att three shillings six- 
pence a peice 13 13 00 

Itm. Twenty hoggs 02 00 00 

Itm. One bedstead and beding, and a cubber and a 

table, and a long settle 03 05 00 

Itm. Brass and puther 01 10 00 

Itm. One iron pott, and other implement iron things . 06 06 00 
Itm. Two coffers and wood vessell, and other imple- 
ment wood things 00 10 00 

Itm. The lining 01 00 00 

Itm. Oweing to the Testator in bonds and other evi- 
dences 16 00 00 

Itm. Five yeares wooll att 12 00 00 

Itm. Bease and sheep sold to Charles Whittell, 
£10 45. 0d., but paid out for the funerall 

and grass for the bease, £7 15s. 6d., rests , 02 08 06 

104 01 06 

Praisers, Jonathan Mitchaell, Tho. Richardson, 

John Richardson his mrke, Phillip Alderson. 

* Extracted from the Registry of the Consistory Court of the Archdeaconry 
of Richmond. 

P 



210 EDWIN AND EMMA. 



WILL OF ROGER WRIGHTSON.* 



In the name of God, Amen. I, Eoger Wrightson, of Bowes, in the 
county of York, being sick and weake in body, but of perfect and 
disposing mind and memory, praised be God for the same, and call- 
ing to rememberance the uncertaine estate of this transitory life, do 
make and ordaine this my last Will and Testament in manner and 
forme following : first, I commend my soul unto Almighty God 
my Saviour and Redeemer, hoping, through his meritorious death 
and passion, to have full pardon and remission of all my sinns ; and 
my body I commit to the earth, to be buried in the churchyard of 
Bowes, in the said county of York, at the discretion of my Executor 
hereafter named. And as touching such temporal estate as it hath 
pleased Almighty God to bestow upon me, I give, devise, and dis- 
pose thereof as followeth: Imprimis, I give and bequeath to my 
dearly beloved Wife Elizabeth Wrightson all my messuage or tene- 
ment called and known by the name of Mire Keld, within the lord- 
ship of Bowes, to hold to my said Wife during her natural life, and 
then to my daughter Hannah Eoaper, her heirs and assigns for ever. 
Item, I give unto Bachell Eoaper, daughter of John Eoaper, my 
grandchild, the sum of one hundered pounds of lawfull money of 
Great Britain, to be paid by my Executor hereafter named within 
one year next after my decease. Item, It is my will and mind that 
my son-in-law John Eoaper, of York Gate, in the county of York, 
have the sole tuition and guardianship of my said grandchild untill 
she shall attain the age of one-and-twenty years, or marry; lend 
and put out the aforesaid sum of one hundred pounds to use or 
interest, and the interest arising thereupon, on such securities as he 
shall think fit, and the aforesaid sum, with all interest, to be paid by 
my son-in-law to my said grandchild at the age of twenty-one years, 
or marriage ; which said summ and summs of money, with the inte- 
rest thereof, I give and devise to my said grandchild as a legacy in 
testimony of my love. But in case my said grandchild shall happen 

* Extracted from the Registry of the Prerogative Court of York. 



WRIGHTSON FAMILY. 211 

to die before she attain the said age of one-and- twenty years as 
aforesaid, and unmarried, then I give and devise unto the survivor 
of Hannah Roaper child or children, to be paid in manner and form 
aforesaid. Item, All the rest, residue, and remainder of my goods, 
chatties, and personal estate I give unto my dearly beloved wife 
Elizabeth Wrightson, whom I constitute and appoint my sole Exe- 
cutor of my last Will and Testament, she paying my debts, legacies, 
and funeral expences. And lastly, revoking all former will and 
wills, testament and testaments, by me heretofore made, I do de- 
clare these presents do contain my last Will and Testament. In 
witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal this fifteenth 
day of March, Annoq. Dom. 1728-9. 

Roger O Wrightson. 

Sealed, published, and declared as the last Will and Testament 
of Roger Wrightson, in the presence and hearing of us Test. 
George Bailey. 

her mrk 
Alice + Wrightson. 
Richard Bincks. 



Proved at York on the 31st July, 1729, by Elizabeth Wrightson, 
widow. 



BOND ON GRANT OF PROBATE OF THE WILL OF ROGER 
WRIGHTSON.* 

Noverint universi per presentes nos Elizabetham Wrightson de 
Bowes in com Ebor vid. et Georgiu' Bailey de Bowes Cross in 
parochia de Bowes, et com. Ebor predict yeoman, teneri et 
firmiter obligari venerabili viro Gulielmo Ward Legum Doc- 
tori Scaccarii et Curiae Pi-erogativse Reverendissimi in Christo 
patris et Domini Domini Lanceloti providentia Divina Ebor 
Archiepiscopi Anglise Primatis et Metropolitan! Commissario 

* Extracted from the Registry of the Prerogative Court of York. 



212 EDWIN AND EMMA. 

et Custodi Generali legitime Constituto in Sexcentis libris 
bonse et legalis monetae Magnse Britanniae solvend eidem Com- 
missario aut suo certo attornat executor' administrator' sive 
assignatis suis. Ad quam quidem solutionem bene et fideliter 
faciend. obligamus nos et utrumque nostrum per se pro toto et 
in solido haeredes executor' et administratores nostros firmiter 
per prsesentes sigillis nostris sigillat. Dat septimo die mensis 
Julij Anno Dom. millesimo septingentesimo vicesimo nono. 

The condition of this obligation is such, that if the above-bounden 
Elizabeth Wrightson, relict and sole executrix of the last will and 
testament of Roger Wrightson, late of Bowes, of the diocese of 
Chester and province of York, deceased, do well and truly execute 
the said will, and do pay his debts and legacies so far as his goods 
will extend and law shall bind her; if also she do exhibit into the 
Prerogative Court at York a true and perfect inventory of all and 
singular the goods, rights, credits, cattels, and chattels of the said 
deceased, and do make a true and just account of the same when 
she shall be thereunto lawfully called; and moreover, if need re- 
quire, enter into further bond, with more sufficient sureties for per- 
formance of the premises, as the Judge of the said Court for the 
time being shall think requisite and needful; and lastly, do save, 
defend, and harmless keep the above-named Judge, and all his 
officers and ministers, against all persons, by reason of the pre- 
misses: then this present obligation to be void and of none effect, or 
else to remain in full force and virtue. 

The mark of 
Elizabeth + Wrightson. O 
Geo. Bailey. O 
Sigillat' et deliberat' "1 
in presentia nri J 

Lancelot Newby. 
Jn°. Perkins. 



WRIGHTSOX FAillLY. 



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216 



EDWIN AND EMMA. 



There are no registers of baptisms at Bowes prior to 1701. The 
register of marriages commences on May 23, 1701, and of burials 
on March 5, 1670. 

The Consistory Court of Richmond contains returns of duplicate 
registers made in the following years : 

A.D. 1616, very much worn, signed by W. Atkinson. 

1663 1688 1701 1711 

1667 1689 1702 1714 

1675 1691 1703 1715 

1677 1692 1704 1716 

1679 1695 1705 1717 

1680 1697 1707 1718 

1681 1698 1708 1719 

1682 1699 1709 &c. &c. 

1683 1700 

It will be seen that the returns for several years are wanting ; 
amongst which is that for 1696. This would probably contain the 
baptism of the heroine Martha Railton. 



MISCELLANEOUS REGISTERS.* 

1662, Nov. 24. Buried , the wife of Christopher Whitell. 

1669, October 12. Roger Wreetson, fillius Boger Wreetson, Mor- 
ton, bapt.+ 

1672, Dec. 15. Christopher, the son of Christopher Whytell, a 
young infant, buried. 

1673, May 10. Wm, the son of Christopher Whytell, Fforelands, a 
young child, buried. 

167|, March 12. Buried, Elizabeth Whitell, widow, of Gilmonby. 

1675, Dec. 29. John Whitell, son of Anne Whitell, a boy, buried. 

1676, May 28. William Whitell, son of Chr. WhiteU, of , 

bapt. 

1678, April 30. John Wharton, son of Bichard Wharton, bapt. 

1678, April 30. Christopher Whitell, son of Anthony Whitell, 
buried. 

1678, May 16. John Wharton, son of Bichard Wharton, a young 
infant, buried. 

1678, Nov. 6. John Bayles, of Barnard Castle, and Catherine 
Alderson of Bowes, married. 

* Chiefly from Bowes Parish Registers. 
| Ainderby Parish Register. 



WRIGHTSON FAMILY. 217 

1678, Jan. 23. Thomas Whitell, buried. 

1678, March. 6. Agnes Whitell, wife of Richard Whitell, buried. 

1679, March 29. Sarah Wharton, daughter of Richard Wharton, 
clerk, bapt. 

1679, Aug. 7. Roger, son of Chr. Whitell, bapt. 

1680, June 2. Richard Holmes and Jane Wrightson, ofLartington, 
married. 

16SJ. Jan>14. Mary Wharton, daughter of Richard Wharton, bapt. 

1682, Oct. 26. Roger Alderson and Margaret Alderson, married. 

1683, Feb. 23. Agnes Whitell, a child of Christopher Whitell, 
buried. 

1686, Nov. Michael Whitell, son of William Whitell, buried. 

1687, Feb. 10. Margaret Whiten, daughter of Anthony Whitell, 
burd. 

168f, Feb. 3. John Whitell, son of Richard WhiteU, burd. 

1689, April 16. Mary Whitell, a young woman, buried. 

169^, March 23. Jane Alderson, wife of John Alderson, buried. 

1691, Aug. 2. Roger Whitell, a young man, buried. 

1691, Aug. 16. Mary Whitell, widow, buried. 

1693, Sep. 16. Roger Wrightson, of Ainderby, buried* 

1693, Oct. 24. Mark, the son of Rodger Laidman, of Bowes, bapt J . 

1693, Nov. 12. Mary, the daughter of Mr. Charles Whitell, bapt. 
169|, Feb. 14. Margaret Alderson, widow, of Sleetholme, buried. 

1694, Sep. 30. Margaret Whitell, of Forelands, spinster, buried. 

1695, Nov. 19. Christopher Whitell, sen'., of Fforelands, burd. 

1696, Dec. 31. James Rain and Margaret Sayer, Quakers, mar- 
ried. 

1697, Feb. 1. Margaret, daughter of Rodger Alderson, bapt. 

1697, April 11, Wm. Copland and Jane Pears, married. 

1698, Feb. 11. Frances Alderson (seamster), of Bowes, buryed. 
1|£|}, Feb. 19. William, son of William Whitell, buried. 

±.6.99 Feb. 23. Thomas, son of Rodger Alderson, bapt. 

17 0' ° ' r 

1700. Anne Whitell, an old woman of Bowes, bind. 

1700, April 21. Anne, daughter of William Whitell, burd. 

1700, Nov. 17. Anne, daughter of Thomas Wrightson, of Cragg, 
bapt.f 

1701, Oct. 6. Mrs. Mary Brunskill, of Bowes, buried. 

1702, May 6. Alice Whitell, of Dike Heads, married Thomas Em- 
merson, of Com Park. 

1702, June 1. John Richardson and Isabell Buck, married. 

* Ainderby Parish Register. His will is in the Consistory Court of Rich- 
mond. 

\ Romaldkirk Parish Register. 



218 EDWIN AND EMMA. 

170 f , Jany . Joney Whitell, wife of Christopher Whitell, of Gilmonby 
Hall, buried. 

170|, Jany. 27. Sarah Whitell, of Dike Heads, buried. 

1704, Aug. 18. Eoger Alderson, of Sleetholme, bur d . 

1704, Oct. 24. Margaret, the daughter of James Eain, a Quaker, 
born. 

170£, March 16. Anthony Whitell, of Dike Heads, buried; aged 
about 89 years. 

1709, May 8. Katherine Bayles, of Forelands, burd. 

1712, Sep. 25. Mary Whitell, a widow, of Forelands, burd. 

171f , March 4. Thomas Whitell, bachelor, of Hudson Close, bur d . 

1717, Aug. 11. James Whitell, the son of Wm. Whitell, of Bow 
Fields, baptd. 

1718, May 5. Anne Whitell, widow, of Bowron, burd. 

1718, Oct. 1. Christopher Whitell, pauper, of Gilmonby, bur d . 

1718, Oct. 5. John Whitell, the son of John Whitell, of Forelands, 
bapt d . 

1720, Aug. 19. Charles Whitell, buried. 

1720, Oct. 23. Wm. the son of John Whitell, of Gilmonbie-Fields, 
bapd. 

1724, Jan. 9. Charles, son of Thomas Whitell, of Spittle, bapd. 

17^4, March 2. Jane, wife of Wm. Whitell, of Pry Bigg, burd. 

1729, May 9. Mrs. Jane Pears, buried. 

1729, Dec. 5. Philip Alderson, buried. 

In 1755 the following is attached to the duplicate registers sent to 
Bichmond. 

" The number of families in the parish of Bowes : 

110 of the communion of the Church of England. 
2 Quakers. 
1 Papist. 

Thomas Peacock. 

John Petty, ) ^ 

Eichard Kipling, \ Churchwardens. 

1768, Nov. 20. William Johnson and Elizabeth Baylton, both of 
Bowes, married.* 

1795, Feb. 16. Mrs. Sarah Parker, wife of Mr. Joseph Parker, 
minister of Bowes, buried. 

1825, May 7, N. 214. William Sayer, who was clerk of the parish 
of Bowes 47 years, buried ; aged 90 years. 

1830, July 22nd, N. 293. Isabella Sayer, buried j aged 94 years. 

* This Elizabeth Raylton came out of Westmoreland. 



Note V. 

" Denied her sight, he oft behind 
The spreading hawthorn crept," — Vei". xiii. 

A hawthorn standing in the playground of the Grammar School 
is pointed out as that alluded to by the poet. A passage formerly 
ran between Mr. Taylor's premises and the Grammar School, the 
thorn being on the east side of this passage. 

Pieces of this hawthorn were formerly, as I have been told, 
much in request. 

The hawthorn probably existed only in the poet's imagination ; 
for no mention is made of it, and there is no reason to suppose that 
Mallet had any knowledge of the place. 



Note VI. 

" Oft too on Stanemore's wintry waste" — Ver. xiv. 

Stanemore* commences a few miles to the west of Bowes, and ex- 
tends almost to Brough. 



" The state of Stanemore is most perfectly expressed by its name, 
which Dr. Gale as happily renders Saxetum. The surface is indeed 
covered with moss and ling, and sedgy or dry grass ; but the soil 
is rock, large fragments of which start up thick on every side, and 
to the north a ridge of very high hills, barren and bleak, present 
themselves." — Camden, vol. iii. p. 96, ed. a.d. 1789. 



" Morning, rose early (having rested badly), and left this ancient 
town, the Roman Verterse, where, in the declining state of the Em- 
pire, a captain made his abode with a band of the Uirectores, and 
before daylight entered upon the noted Stane- Cor stony) more ; 
but got so severe a cold as much indisposed me, with pain and 
numbness upon the right side of my head, which rendered my jour- 
ney very uncomfortable. We rode for many miles upon the famous 
Boman highway (as also yesterday), which was here well paved, by 
the notorious Spittle on Stanemore, which, though an ordinary inn, 
yet often most welcome to the weary traveller in this solitary coun- 
try, which for twelve miles has but one other house (Baitings) for 
the reception of distressed wayfaring persons. About a mile thence 
we passed by the noted Rerecross, or Reicross, as the Scots call it 
(Roi-cross rather, or the King's-cross), which their Hector Boetius 

* " Next day lay at Brough, * * * and so over Stonemoor home." — Gray to 
Mason, Sept. 11, 1767. Letter cxvii. See Phillips' Elvers, Mountains, and Sea- 
coast of Yorkshire, p. 18. 



STANEMORE. 221 

would have a mere -stone, confining England and Scotland, erected 
when the Norman William granted Cumberland to the Scots, to 
hold it as his tenants. It is yet indeed a bounder, but of two coun- 
ties, "Westmoreland and Yorkshire, which we here entered upon ; 
and about six miles thence came to Bowes, a small country town, 
where we saw the ruins of a small castle, formerly belonging to the 
Earls of Eichmond, who had here a thorough toll and furcas, or 
power to hang: it was a place of eminency in the Koman time, the 
first cohort of the Thracians lying here in garrison in Severus's 
time ; and in the declining state of the Empire the band of Explora- 
tores kept their station at the same Lavatrse (or Levatrse; for so its 
ancient name in the Itinerary), which being burnt, the succeeding 
vill was named Bowes by the Britains, with whom, at this day, a 
burnt thing is called boath (vid. Camden's Brit. p. 732). From 
Bowes, four miles to Greta Bridge; in the road we had a very fair 
prospect of Barnard Castle, built and so called by Bernard Baliol, 
great-grandfather's father of John Baliol, King of Scots, now chiefly 
famous for bridles there made. At Greta we baited to inquire of 
Roman coins, but found none worth the notice, though of late years 
there was dug up a stately piece of Roman gold, which, by the de- 
scription, sterns to have been in the declining state of the Empire, in 
the midst of the moat (as they call it) behind the house, which has 
been a fair Roman camp, double trenched." — Thoresbt's Diary, 
a.d. 1694, Sept. 26. 

" Before we separated on the edge of Stanemore, we stopped at 
the Bell* to breakfast, which is a little lone house on a descent to a 
vast romantic glen, and all the public house there is in this wild, 
silent road, till you come to Jack Bailton the Quaker's house at 
Bows." [June 1725.] 

* An old cottage, not far from the present inn, with the sign of The Blue Bell, 
was probably " The Bell" mentioned by John Buncle. It is difficult to reconcile 
the description of the inns on Stanemore herein given. It may be supposed that 
an inn known as " The Spittle" occupied different sites. At this time there are 
the " Old Spittle," a veiy old inn ; " The New Spittle," built about 1773 or 1774 ; 
and another. 



222 EDWIN AND EMMA. 

" As to the Stanemore-part of Richmondshire, Camden, and the 
authors of the other Britannia, and the Tourmen, &c. never so much 
as saw this country at a distance, I am very sure. The very little 
they say of it is false and ridiculous. Camden places Bows before 
Greta-Bridge. Pie says: 'In this desolate and solitary, this moun- 
tainous and vast tract called Stanemore, there is but one inn in the 
middle of it, for the entertainment of travellers,' whereas, in truth, 
there is no inn at all in what is properly called Stanemore : This inn 
Camden speaks of, is the Bell I mentioned before .... and lies on 
the left side of a fine turnpike road from Bows to Brugh, in West- 
morland, the highway to Carlisle: but tho' this road is a part of 
Stanemore, running in a direct line from Greta-Bridge through 
Bows to Brugh, 18 miles of delightful ground, both on account of 
the excellence of the way, and the fine views of mountains and vales 
on either hand, for 1 2 miles, from a beautiful ruin of a Boman castle 
at the end of the town, yet this is but the southern beginning of 
Stanemore : that vast tract of mountains, glens, and valleys, forest, 
rock, and water, the most wonderful land in the world, for 40 miles 
to the end of the country, if it was possible to go straight on, lies on 
the right hand of this road, as you ride to Brugh under Stanemore ; 
or on your left, as you come from Westmorland to Catarracton, or 
Catarrick. * * * 

" I imagine you will pardon me for advising you, in the next 
place (should the fates ever bring you to Catarractonium, in order 
to proceed to the northern extremity of our country), to go four 
miles out of your way to see Richmond* town, before j*ou set out 
for Gretabridge, to Joseph Marshall's, the best house of the two inns 
there." * * * 

"And now, reader, as to Stanemore- country, if it should ever 
come into your head to wander over this wild and romantic part of 
our world, at the hazard of your neck, and the danger of being 
starved, your route is, when you have passed the turnpike on Stane- 



* The author mentions his having heen at Richmond in the years 1729, 1737, 
and 1752, and at Gretabridge in 1731. Marshall's was the inn nearest to Bowes. 



STANEMORE. 223 

more, in your way to Brugh, to turn off to the right, beyond the 
public-house, and ascend a fine rising valley you will see between 
two mountains, till you come to the top of the first hills: then pro- 
ceed, if you can, in the course I have described, and wherever it is 
in your power, tend to the north-east, for that is the way out. This 
is one way into the heart of Stanemore in Richmondshire, and will 
bring you, by the way, among the dreadful northern fells of West- 
morland; a frightful country, and a fatiguing march. Another way 
to the Stanemore Alps is behind Jack Railton's, the Quaker's house, 
at Bows. Hire a guide from him, and his man will bring you, as he 
did me once, through a very surprising way of deep bottoms to a 
public house at Eggleston, on the border of Richmond- Stanemore. 
There rest that night, and early the next morning proceed due 
north, when you can, with another guide, and you will come to 
mountains upon mountains, rapid rivers, and headlong torrents 
that form amazing and tremendous scenes. Or, as this way is 
neither comfortable, nor very safe, it is a better road to the con- 
fines, or beginning of Stanemore, to ride from Greta Bridge to 
Bernard Castle, and from Bernard Castle to Eggleston, about 16 
miles, as I judge, for it is not measured, and then set out for the 
mountains from Eggleston, as before directed. I have been told 
there is another way into Stanemore, through Bishoprick ; but as I 
am a stranger to it, I can only say what I have heard, that it is 
worse than the bottoms I went through from the Quaker's house. 
This is enough, reader, to show you how to get into Stanemore, if 
you have the curiosity and heart to visit that very wild and won- 
derful land." 

"I observed before, that Camden, and every other describer 
of England, had not the least notion of Stanemore, that is, the north 
fells of Westmorland, and the northern mountains of Uichmondshire : 
and as to the people who live on the borders of Stanemore, I could 
not find so much as one man in Richmond, Gretabridge, Bowes, 
and Brugh, that had been any length of way up the mountains. 
When I asked Railton, the Quaker, a very knowing man, who keeps 



224 EDWIN AND EMMA. 

the George at Bowes, what sort of a country Stanemore was ? He 
answered, ' It is, after a few miles riding, more wild and mountainy 
than the highlands of Scotland, and impassable :' nay, my landlord 
at Eggleston, some miles within Stanemore, knew nothing of the 
mountains upon mountains that are far beyond his house." 



[1731, July.] " I gave the horses another feed of corn at Bows, 
at the George, kept by Railton, the Quaker (an excellent inn, and 
the master of it an instructive and entertaining orator)." 

Life of John Buncle, Esq.,* 2 vols., London, 1756-66. 3 vols , 
London, 1825. Edition 1755-66, vol. i. pp. 99, 280, note; 329, note; 
vol. ii. p. 260. Edition 1825, vol. i. pp. 100, 285, note ; vol. ii. p. 
14, note ; vol. iii. p. 141. 



" From Bowes, advancing towards Westmoreland, we were 
respited from the sad scene of barrenness which we were obliged to 
pass, by some infant inclosures and attempts towards cultivation; 
— the climate, dreary vicinage of mountains, and inclement skies, 
seemed to deny industry her natural rewards. 

"About two miles from Bowes is a singular curiosity, called 
GooVs-bridge, being a natural bridge of limestone rock, where, 
through a rude arch, sixteen feet in span, the river Greta precipi- 
tates its waters ; — the way formed on the crown of this rock is about 
twenty feet wide, and the common carriage-road over the river. — 
After the Greta has passed this bridge, at a little distance it gains a 

* The Life of John Buncle, Esq., a sketch of the life of the author, Thomas 
Amory, was published in 1756-66, in 2 vols. 8vo. The periods at which he 
makes mention of Bowes and John Railton, the brother of the heroine of the 
ballad, being but shortly subsequent to events of such a striking and painful 
character, and likely to form a topic of village conversation, it is remarkable 
that no allusion should have been made to them by the author; and more espe- 
cially so, as he records his impressions of the George Inn and its landlord. 

Amory died Nov. 25th, 1788, aged 97. See Gentl>man's Magazine, vol. lv. pp. 
36, 187; vol. Iviii. p. 1062 ; vol. lix. pp. 107, 322, 372; European Magazine, vol. xv. 
p. 22 ; Leigh Hunt's A Booh for a Corner, p. 139; Notes and Queries, vol. x. p. 30. 



STANEMORE. 225 

subterraneous passage for near half a mile, and in a lineal direction 
breaks out again, through the cavities of the rocks. A few scanty 
meadows border the river, and cultivation seems to awake from 
ignorance over the adjoining lands, where the ploughshare begins to 
make the traces of industry on the skirts of the desert. 

"As we proceeded, Spittle* presented its solitary edifice to view; 
behind which Stainmore arises, whose heights feel the fury of both 
eastern and western storms; — a dreary prospect extended to the 
eye; the hills were clothed in heath, and all around a scene of bar- 
renness and deformity ; — the lower grounds were rent with torrents, 
which impetuously poured from the steeps in winter; and chasms, 
harrowed on the sides of hills, yawned with ragged rocks, or black 
and rotten earth. — Here and there scattered plots of grass variegated 
the prospect, where a few sheep found pasturage; and now and 
then a little rill was seen in the deep dell, which, as it flowed in dis- 
consolate meanders, was tinged with the sable soil through which it 
passed. — No habitation for mankind appeared on either side, but all 
was wilderness and horrid waste, over which the wearied eye tra- 
velled with anxiety. * * * 

" We approached Roy Cross,f which is said to be the boundary - 

* At this place ■was an ancient hospital, called Rere-Cross Hospital, which 
was given to the Nunnery of Mavrick before 1171, by Ralph, son of Ralph de 
Moulton, or by Conan, Earl of Richmond ; and continued parcel of their pos- 
sessions till the dissolution. It was granted, 7 Ed. VI. to William Buckton and 
Roger Marshall. See Mon. Any. vol. i. p. 485 ; Camden, vol. iii. pp. 26, 96 ; Gale's 
Appendix, p. 86. 

f A correspondent of the Daily News, the Vicar of Kirkleatham, thus ad- 
dresses that paper: — "Two most ancient relics, called by the common name of 
Ree or Rere Cross, on the verge of Watling Street (the great Roman road), upon 
the summit of Stainmoor, seem deserving of what they have never yet obtained 
— the attention of the public; and I shall feel imich obliged if you will kindly 
submit to your readers the following details respecting them : — 

" ' Jeffery of Monmouth, historian in the reign of Henry I., says that Marius, 
who reigned over a part of Britain about a.d. 73, encountered a certain king of 
the Picts, who came from Scythia with a great fleet, and, arriving in a part called 
Albania, ravaged the country. A complete victory was obtained by Marius; for 
a monument of which he set up a stone in the province, afterwards called from 
him Westmarland.'— Jeffery's British History, p. 125. 

" Matthew of Westminster confirms this account, stating that the Scythian 
king's name was Roderick, and that the stone was engraven with ' Marij Vic- 

Q 



226 EDWIN AND EMM... 

stone dividing Yorkshire from Westmoreland. * * * * This 
Cross stands within the remains of a large entrenchment, defended 
by banks of earth ten paces wide, through which the present turn- 
pike-road now passes."— Hutchinson's Excursion to the Lakes in 
the years 1773 and 1774. 

toria' (some traces of which appeared to me yet remaining) Near this 

memorable spot William the Conqueror, and Malcolm, king of Scotland, drew 
up their forces for a desperate and decisive struggle on account of Edgar, claim- 
ant of the English throne. They wisely, however, came to terms of peace, and 
set up a stone in Stainmoor, as the boundary of the two kingdoms of Scotland 
and England. See Bodin's History of the Church, compared with Buchanan's and 
Spotiswode's Histories of Scotland [Hollinshed, London, 1808, 4to, vol. v. p. 280 ] 
The former of these most ancient stones is still standing, hut in a very ruined 
and mutilated state, kept in the socket by a few loose stones. The latter is 
prostrate, and about ten yards north of the other. There are on one side distinct 
traces of a human figure, the lines of which appear to have been inlaid with some 
metal. The stone is about four feet long. There is also a small conical aperture 
at the top, of three inches diameter, and about the same in depth ; in this has 
probably been inserted some cross of costly metal. Surely two such relics, con- 
nected with the name of one of the finest counties in England, and with two 
important historical events, marking out also the ancient boundary of the two 
kingdoms, ought not to lie in utter neglect. The situation, too, is veiy peculiar, 
close by the old Roman encampment in Watling Street, and midway between the 
' Hospitium' (now called the ' Spittle,' where are still to be found the bones of the 
Roman warriors) and ' Maiden Castle,' probably deriving its name from Mag- 
num Castellum, evidently a fortress of great strength in its original state."— 
Athenceum, 1848, p. 43. 



Note VII. 

" When, lo! the death-bell smote her ear,"— Ver. xxii. 

The original intention of the Passing Bell is now nearly forgotten. 
It appears to have been, to announce to a neighbourhood, in which 
a particular individual lay sick, the period when the soul was, as it 
were, passing out of the body. That this was the original design of 
the Passing Bell, is implied in its very name. It is also fully con- 
firmed by the light thrown on the subject by those who have studied 
the history of the usage. 

" When any Christian bodie is passing, that the bell be tolled, and 
that the curate be speciallie called for to comforte the sicke person ; 
and after the time of his passing, to ring no more but one short 
peale; and one before buriall, and another short peale after the 
buriall."* 

As late as the middle of the seventeenth century, or somewhat 
later, the Passing Bell was tolled before the death of a parishioner. 
Since that period, however, a change has been made in this particu- 
lar. The bell does not now sound till after the spirit has left its 
earthly tenement, though it is still entitled the Passing Bell.f 



■' And now his grief may be compared well 
To one sore sick, that hears the passing bell." 

Shakespeare's Venus and Adonis, line 702. 
See also Sonnet 71, and 2d Part Henry IV. act i. scene 1. 



* Advertisement for due order, &c. in the 7th year of Queen Elizabeth. 

t See The Pourtract of Old Age, by John Smith, M.D., 1676, 2d ed. p. 247; 
Fosbrooke's Encyclopaedia of Antiquities ; Brande's Popular Antiquities, vol. ii. pp. 
128, 139, 140 [3 vols. ed. 1841-2]; Hone's Every-Day Book, vol. ii. p. 135; Saturday 
Magazine, vol. iii. p. 182, &c. ; Notes and Queries, vol. viii. pp. 55, 130; The Bell, 
by the Rev. A. Gatty, M.A., 1848, p 19; Quarterly Review, vol. xcv. p. 331. 



228 EDWIN AND EMMA. 

" Those loving papers, 
Thicken on you now, as prayers ascend 
To heaven in troops at a good man's passing bell.' 



Donne. 



Come, list and hark, the bell doth toll 
For some but now departing soul." 

Thomas Hey wood. 



: Even in the vesper's heavenly tone, 
They seem'd to hear a dying groan, 
And bade the passing knell to toll 
For welfare of a parting soul." 

Scott's Marmion, canto ii. 33. 



NOTE TO THE LETTER 

FROM THE CURATE OF BOWES TO MR. COPPERTHWAITE. 






The Curate's letter must have been -written prior to the year 1757, 
if Mr. John Copperthwaite, who died in that year, and was buried 
on the 17th February at Marrick, was the person to whom it was 
addressed. Mr. Taylor was appointed to the living in the year 
1724. It was, therefore, very improbable that he would hare 
used the expressions — " as to the affair mentioned in yours, it hap- 
pened long before my time;" and "the then curate of Bowes." If 
he had been speaking of his immediate predecessor he would pro- 
bably have used the words, ''the late curate." The fact of the 
curate being obliged to consult his clerk and another person in the 
neighbourhood, leads to an obvious inference that the letter was 
written subsequently to the death of the widow Eailton in 1741; 
after which time an}* information from the surviving members of the 
Eailton family, who were very young at the period of Martha's 
death, would have been less satisfactory than that which older 
persons would be enabled to communicate. Mr. Cookson might 
hare written the letter during the single year for which he held the 
living. It is more probable, however, that the letter was written by 
Mr. Bowman, who was the curate from 1750 to 1770. And this 
supposition derives material confirmation from the fact of Mr. 
Bowman being a native of either Cumberland or "Westmoreland, 
and therefore not ivnlikely to have some acquaintance and corre- 
spondence with Mr. Copperthwaite, who, it is said, was a native of 
Kirkby Stephen, and was agent for the lead-mines in the parish of 
Marrick, under the lord of the manor. It appears, however, that in 
the middle of the seventeenth century there was a family at Marrick 
of the name of Copperthwaite. 



230 



EDWIN AND EMMA. 



BURIAL REGISTER. 



Kodger Wrightson Jun r and Martha Kailton both of 

Bowes, Buried in one grave : He Died in a Fever, and 

upon tolling his passing Bell, she cry'd out My heart is 

as supposed 
broke, and in a Few hours Expir'd, purely thro Love March 

a 15* 17if 

aged about 20 years each. 



The above is an exact copy of the original register. 

The black marginal line round the register was made by the 
Rev. R. Wilson, who traced with ink the old registers, which had 
become very pale, and almost illegible. 

The duplicate register in the Consistory Court of Richmond, 
sent in at the visitation, July 20th, 1715, is as follows: 

" Rodger Wrightson Juri 1 '., and Martha Railton, both of Bowes, buried in one grave. He died 

in a Fever, and upon tolling his passing Bell, she cry'd out, my heart is Broke, 

and in a few hours expir'd, purely (as suppos'd) thro' Love, March 15th, aged about 20 years each. 17lf •" 

The whole of this duplicate register is evidently in the hand- 
writing of the Rev. J. Pears. 



BURIAL-PLACE 



ROGER WRIGHTSON AND MARTHA RAILTON. 

" One grave contains this hapless faithful pair." — Grainger. 

" One mould with her, beneath one sod, 
For ever he remains." — Tickell. 

At the west end of the church the mortal remains of the two lovers 
were deposited, side by side. The solemn and affecting ceremony 
of their interment is said to have been attended by a great con- 
course of persons. 




NORTH-EAST VIEW OF BOWES CHURCH. 



In addition to the mourning kindred and friends of both lovers, 
the scholars of the Grammar School assisted in no trifling degree 



232 



EDWIN AND EMMA. 



to swell the procession of the adult population of this and one or 
two of the adjoining parishes. Tradition tells that when the corpses 
met at the foot of the steps leading up to the gate at the east en- 
trance of the churchyard, the two processions formed a large and 
dense mass of people. 

Mr. Kichard Binks, of Stony Keld, as I have been informed by 
one of his descendants, took an active part at the funeral, and offi- 
ciated as one of the mourners. 




:4S§ 



The praiseworthy purpose* so long entertained has been at 
length accomplished, by the erection of a plain and simple monu- 
ment to point out the spot which tradition has hallowed. 



* See Leigli Hunt's London Journal, 1835, Feb. 25, p. 52. 



MONUMENT TO THE LOVERS. 233 

The monument was erected on Saturday, July 1st, 1848, and 
bears the following inscription : 

Rodger Wrightson Jun r - and Martha Railton both of 
Bowes, Buried in one grave : He Died in a fever, and 
upon tolling his passing Bell, she cry'd out My heart is 
broke, and in a Few hours Expired, purely thro* Love, 
March 15, 17f£ . 

Such is the brief and touching Record 

contained in the parish Register of Burials. 

It has been handed down 

by unvarying tradition that the grave 

was at the West end of the church 

directly beneath the bells. 

The sad history of these true and 

faithful lovers forms the subject of 

Mallet's pathetic Ballad of 

" Edwin and Emma." 



APPENDIX. 






CRITICAL NOTICES. 



Edwin and Emma. 1 s. Keprinted by A. Kincaid, for A. Millar, 
London. 

" To a heart sensible to the distress of others, there is no species of 
suffering more affecting than that which flows from misfortunes in 
love. It is the most interesting passion of the human mind. It is 
the first and most natural affection of our youth, and arises in our 
hearts at a time when nature works in us without disguise. It 
raises an enthusiasm in the mind, and teaches us to hope for joys 
greater than fancy can paint. There «,re but few so unhappily 
formed as not to have felt the pain, or enjoyed the pleasure, arising 
from this passion. Wherever it appears in natural circumstances, 
we listen to its voice with sympathy; it calls forth all the tenderness 
of the soul. 

There is just now published and sold by Messrs. Kincaid and 
Bell, an Elegy, under the title of ' Edwin and Emma,' which I beg 
leave to recommend to your readers. The story of this unhappy 
pair is founded on truth. The account of the two lovers is beautiful 
and interesting. The characters, or rather the sketches of the 
other figures introduced, are finely hit. The progress of the loves, 
the circumstances of the distress, and the fatal close of the passion 
of this couple, is full of the most natural incidents, the most delicate 
images, and that sensibility of passion that unknowingly melts 
down the heart into the softest distress. I read this poem with 
feelings such as, I believe, the poet had when he wrote, and such 
as, if your readers feel, they will think themselves indebted to me 
for this recommendation of it. The profits of the publication are 
intended for a charitable purpose; and the purchasers will add to 



238 EDWIN AND EMMA. 

the pleasure of an elegant entertainment, the merits of a charitable 
action. I hope there are few will grudge the acquisition of such 
enjoyment, at the small expense of a shilling." — Edin. Cour. 

[The Curate's Letter is annexed.] — Scots Magazine, March 1760, 
vol. xxii. p. 163. 

Edwin and Emma. 
" This poem was published separately, with the following adver- 
tisement subjoined. [The Advertisement is here given.] It was 
however inserted, first in Hinton's Universal Magazine, and since in 
different newspapers both in England and Scotland. The piece 
certainly ought to be preserved; and its insertion in a collection 
needs be no hindrance to the compassionate reader's charity." 
[Here follows the Poem with its motto prefixed.] 

Scots Mag. vol. xxii. p. 202. 



Edwin and Emma. 4to, Is. Elegantly printed at Birmingham, by 
Baskerville, and sold by Millar in London. 
" A pretty little poem, in imitation of the celebrated ballad en- 
titled William and Margaret, and supposed to have come from the 
same ingenious hand; though certainly not altogether equal to the 
last-named piece: — an unfortunate amour is the subject of both. 
As the profits arising from the sale of Edwin and Emma are in- 
tended for a charitable use, we shall not anticipate the curiosity of 
our readers by any extracts, or farther account, except barely to 
add, that the story of the hapless pair is added, in prose, and 
averred to be matter of fact." — Monthly Review, 1760, vol. xxii. 
p. 514. 

Edwin and Emma. 

" The story of this little poem is affecting, and the execution 
masterly. We shall only add, that the profits arising from its sale 
are intended for a charitable purpose." — Critical Review, March, 
1760, vol. ix. p. 244. 

" The ballad of Edwin and Emma abounds with pathetic touches 
and pastoral simplicity, though perhaps not quite so affecting as 






CRITICAL NOTICES. 239 

William and Margaret, an inimitable production of the same au- 
thor." — Critical Review, vol. xiii. p. 355. 



" Edwin and Emma is an imitation of William and Margaret, 
though certainly not altogether equal to it. An unfortunate amour 
is the subject of both. The story of the hapless pair is added in 
prose, and averred to be matter of fact. The father of Edwin is 
described in the following passage, by a simile immediately arising 
from the subject itself, which conveys a direct and unequivocal illus- 
tration, with a conciseness and expression truly admirable : 

' The father too, a sordid man, 
"Who love nor pity knew, 
Was all unfeeling as the clod 
From, whence his riches grew.'" 
Dr. Anderson, British Poets, vol. ix. p. 678, a.d. 1794. 



" The subject of Mallet's fine poem? Edwin and Emma, being 
absolutely rural in itself, and occurring at the hamlet of Bowes, in 
Yorkshire, might have seduced the poet from the beau ideal which 
he had pictured to. himself, into something more immediately allied 
to common life. But Mallet was not a man to neglect what was 
esteemed fashionable; and poor Martha Railton and her lover 
Wrightson were enveloped in the elegant but tinsel frippery apper- 
taining to Edwin and Emma;* for the similes, reflections, and sug- 

* The names, Edwin and Emma, have descended to us from Saxon times : 

Edwin, king of Northumbria, from 617 to 663. 

Edwin, commonly called Edwy, son of Edmund the Elder, succeeded Edred at 
the age of sixteen, a.d. 955. Edwin died a.d. 959. 

In A.D. 1002, Ethelred married Emma, daughter of Richard I., the third Duke 
of Normandy, who for her beauty was surnamed " the Pearl of Normandy." In 
a.d. 1016 Emma married Canute. She died a.d. 1052. 

" That Emma was amongst the most remarkable personages of her period 
will be allowed by all. and her influence on the country over which she reigned 
renders her biography one of the most interesting of any of the British queens. 
The name of Queen Emma has been kept alive by tradition, and has more than 
once adorned a tale." — Queens of England, by Mrs. M. Hall, vol. ii. p. 336. 

Of the names Edwin and Emma one at least occurs in the following works : 

Henry and Emma, by Prior. 



240 EDWIN AND EMMA. 

gestions of the poet are, in fact, too intrusive and too well said to 
suffer the reader to feel the full taste of the tragic tale. The verses 
are, doubtless, beautiful; but I must own the simple prose of the 
Curate's letter, who gives the narrative of the tale as it really hap- 
pened, has to me a tone of serious veracity more affecting than the 
ornaments of Mallet's fiction." — Sir Walter Scott, Essay on Imi- 
tations of the Ancient Ballad, — Poetical Works, vol. iv. p. 27, ed. 1833, 
12 vols. 



Edwin, a Tragedy, by G. Jeffreys, 1724. 

Edwin is a character in A Fairy Tale in the Ancient English Style, by Parnell. 

In the Masque of Alfred, 1740, Emma is one of the characters. In the Masque 
of Alfred, 1751, Edwin and Emma are both characters. 

Emma, a Pastoral. Scots Mag. vol. vi. p. 323, 1744. 

Edwin is one of the characters in Mason's Elfrida, 1752. 

Edwin and Angelina, by Goldsmith, 1764. 

An Evening Address to a Nightingale, by C. Shaw. Southey's Later Poets, vol. i 
p.l. 

Edwin and Ethelinde. Scots Mag. vol. xxix. p. 433, 1767; Evans's Ballads, 
vol. ii. p. 222, 1784. 

Beattie's Minstrel, 1771. 

Harold and Emma, a Song, sung by Miss Linley. London Magazine, vol. xlii 
p. 201, 1773. 

Emma, or the Unfortunate Attachment, a Sentimental Novel, 3 vols. 12mo, Lon 
don Magazine, xlii. p. 249, 1773. 

Emma Corbet, or The Miseries of Civil War, 3 vols. 1780. 

The Prophecy of Queen Emma, by Mickle, 1782. In this poem the hero is Edwin 

Almon and Emma. European Magazine, vol. iv. p. 313, 1783. 

Edwin and Eltruda, a Legendary Tale, by H. M. "Williams. Evans's Ballads,vo\ 
iv. p. 65, 1784. 

The Cave of Morar. Evans's Ballads, vol. iv. p. 22, 1784. 

The Triumph of Death. Evans's Ballads, vol. iv. p. 217, 1784. 

Edwin, the Banished Prince, a Tragedy, by Douglas, 1784. 

Poems addressed to Emma. European Magazine, vol. ix. pp. 50, 51, 1786. 

The Ghost of Edwin, a Song. European Magazine, vol. ix. p. 289, 1786. 

Edwin and Ethelind. European Magazine, vol. xiv. 375; vol. xv. p. 328, 1788. 

Edwin and Anna, a Poem. European Magazine, vol. xxxvi. p. 44, 1799. 

Edwin and Lucy, a Ballad. Poetical Register, p. 312, for 1804. 

Alfred and Emma, a Play, 1806. 

Edwin and Amelia, by H. I. Poetical Register, p. 92, for 1808-9. 

Emma, a Novel, by Miss Austen, 1816. 

Edwin is one of the dramatis personae of Alfred the Gh-eat, by J. S. Knowles, 
1831. 

Edwin the Fair, an Historical Drama, by H. Taylor, 1842. In this play Emma 
is one of the dramatis personss. 

Emma, or Recollections of a Friend, by M. A. B. 1850. 



CRITICAL NOTICES. 241 

"Mallet was a poet of small merit; but every one has read his 
Edwin and Emma, and no one ever forgot it." — William Hazlitt, 
Select Poets of Great Britain, London, 1825. 



Mallei 's "Edwin and Emma." 

" This touching ballad, the author of which had a genuine faculty 
for that sort of writing, far superior to what he probably thought 
his superior compositions, has been somewhat neutralised in its 
effect by its trite repetition from the pages of Enfield's Speaker; 
though to complain of such results from those publications would be 
doing them great injustice, since you cannot at once make a good 
thing common, and yet expect it to retain, among its other benefi- 
cial consequences, a perpetual novelty. ' But grown people, when 
their attention is freshly excited, may read well-known productions 
with a new relish; and in this hope we have repeated the story on 
which it is founded. 

" Mallet's account of the heroine's death is not so affecting as 
the real circumstance — her suddenly screaming out, at hearing the 
death-bell of her lover, ' that her heart was burst ;' but it is not 
wanting in pathos, especially the first line; and there is a vein of 
natural elegance throughout the poem." * * * Leigh Hunt. 



"The ballads Edwin and Emma and William and Margaret — 
both the records of actual occurrences — have done more to preserve 
the memory of Mallet than all the rest of his productions. They 
are of exceeding interest, — an interest enhanced by their simplicity; 
and have been always classed among the happiest specimens of 

R 



242 EDWIN AND EMMA. 

English verse. It would be difficult to find any compositions of the 
kind that have obtained a wider, or sustained a more enduring popu- 
larity."— S. C. Hall, Memoir of David Mallet,— Book of Gems, 1837, 
p. 106. 



PARALLEL PASSAGES AND IMITATIONS. 






PARALLEL PASSAGES. 
EDWIN AND EMMA 



She, with her widow'd mother, feeble, old, 
And poor, lived in a cottage, far retired 
Among the windings of a woody vale ;" 

Thomson: Autumn, line 181. 



' Far in the winding vale retired, 

This peerless bud I found \ 
And shadowing rocks and woods conspired 

To fence her beauties round." 

Shenstone : Nancy of the Vale, verse 9. 



III. 



a rising blush 

His love-lorn guest betray 5 d : 

Surprised he sees new beauties rise, 

Swift mantling to the view ; 
Like colours o'er the morning skies, 

As bright, as transient too." 

Goldsmith : Hermit, verses 21, 22. 



Scarcely she knew that she was great, or fair," 

Dryden: Eleonora. 



Thoughtless of beauty, she was beauty's self," 

Thomson: Autumn, line 207. 



246 



EDWIN AND EMMA. 

u And still to her charms she alone is a stranger." 

Burns : Young Jessie. 

VI. 

" The pride of swains 
Palemon was," 

Thomson : Autumn, line 217. 



" They loved : but such their guileless passion was, 
As in the dawn of time informed the heart 
Of innocence, and undissembling truth. 
'Twas friendship heighten'd by the mutual wish, 
The enchanting hope, and sympathetic glow, 
Beam'd from the mutual eye." 

Thomson : Summer, line 1177. 

IX. 

See Ovid's Metamorphoses, ii. 775 ; Spenser's Faery Queen, hook i. canto iv. 
stanza 30; book v. canto xii. stanza 31. 



Nor quits his deep retirement, till the moon 
Peeps through the chambers of the fleecy east, 
Enlighten'd by degrees, and in her train 
Leads on the gentle hours ; then forth he walks, 
Beneath the trembling languish of her beam, 
With softened soul," 

Thomson : Spring, line 1034. 

XVI. 



Fatigabat alieni jam imperii Deos." 

Tacitus : Hist. i. 29. 



" Cum votis sibi quisque te fatiget." 

Martial : Ep. 60. 

XVII. 
Yet might sweet mercy find a place," 

Shenstone : Jemmy Dawson, verse 9. 




PARALLEL PASSAGES. 247 

XXII. 

The village death-bell smote my ear ;" 

Mickle : Cumnor Hall, verse 21. 

XXIV. 

Fair Ulla saw the woful shade ; 

Her heart struck at her side, 
And burst — low bow"d her listless head, 

And down she sunk, and died." 

Mickle : The Sorceress, verse 50. 



IMITATIONS 



EDWIN AND EMMA. 



From " The Death of Earl Oswald." 

Far sheltered in a woody vale, 

Close by a babbling flood, 
For heav'nly contemplation meet, 

A lonely cottage stood. 

* * * * 

5. 

Such beauteous bloom as crowns the May, 

"When vernal mornings break, 
Suffusing spread its orient blush, 

To tinge her damask cheek. 

6. 
Long had the neighb'ring hamlets rung 

With praises of the fair ; 
Her charms had fill'd each swain with love, 

Each maiden with despair. 

* * * * 

8. 
The maid, in whom the Graces vied, 

The lily and the rose ; 
And from whose mind benignly bright 

Shone forth serene repose. 

* * * * 

14. 
But sure a virgin's sigh's too dear, 

When bliss in love was woe ; 
Too dear the ecstatic joy is bought, 

When fortune proves a foe. 

* * * * 

Evans's Old Ballads, vol. iii. p. 303, no. 51 (ed. 1784), 
vol. iv. p. 333, no. 51 (ed. 1810). 



IMITATIONS OF EDWIN AND EMMA. 249 

The Death of Earl Oswald I have not met with elsewhere than 
in Evans's Old Ballads ; of which work the first edition, in 2 vols., 
appeared in 1777, and the second edition, in 4 vols., in 1784. 

It has been asserted* that Mickle was the author of some dozen 
and a half of the sweetest ballads in this collection. The truth of 
this assertion, though questioned,! has on inquiry been fully con- 
firmed. 

In Pearch's collection of poetry, which was formed by Mickle, 
his ballad of Hengist and May was inserted under his own name, 
(ed. 1775.) 

In 1782 the Prophecy of Queen Emma was published by Mickle, 
with an ironical preface, containing an account of its pretended 
author and discovery. This ballad was again published in Evans's 
Old Ballads, ed. 1784, vol. iii. p. 297, no. 50, and ed. 1810, vol. iv. 
p. 327, no. 50 ; and is in both editions attributed to Mickle. It is 
now found in Mickle's collected poems. 

The Sorceress, or Wolfwold and Ulla, appears in the several edi- 
tions of Mickle's poems. ^ 

The ballad of Cumnor Hall, first printed in Evans's collection 
(ed. 1784, vol. iv. p. 130, no. 9, ed. 1810, vol. iv. p. 94, no. 19), 
without Mickle's name, is not found in any edition of his poems ; 
yet it was believed by Sir W. Scott J that he was the author of it. 

Of these five ballads, three are in the same metre as Mallet's 
William and Margaret and Edwin and Emma, with a slight variation 
as regards two of them. The numerous points of resemblance, 
moreover, in sentiment and expression which occur in these ballads, 
and in the two ballads of Mallet, afford such internal evidence as 
hardly to admit of its being questioned that Mickle was the sole 
author of them. 



* Gentleman's Magazine, vol. lxi. pp. 402, 628 ; Quarterly Review, vol.'iii. p. 
Allan Cunningham's Songs of Scotland, vol. i. p. 226. 
t Gentleman's Magazine, vol. lxi. pp. 504, 801. 
% Scott's Poetical Works, ed. 1833, 12 vols. vol. i. pp. 68, 69. 



250 EDWIN AND EMMA. 



From " The Fate of Amy." 



Beneath a sheltering wood's warm side, 

Where many a tree expands 
Its branches o'er the neighbouring brook, 

A ruined cottage stands : 



7. 
There once a mother's only joy, 

A daughter, lovely, fair, 
As ever bloomed beneath the sun, 

Was nurs'd and cherish'd there. 

8. 
The cottage then was known around 

The neighbouring village swains 
Would often wander by to view 

That charmer of the plains. 

9. 
Where softest blush of roses wild, 

And hawthorn's fairest blow, 
But meanly serve to paint her cheek, 

And bosom's rival snow ; 



11. 
Sweet Innocence ! the beauty 's thine 

That every bosom warms : 
Fair as she was, she lived alone 

A stranger to her charms. 

12. 
Unmov'd the praise of swains she heard, 

Nor proud at their despair ; 
But thought they scoff 'd her when they prais'd 

And knew not she was fair. 



IMITATIONS OP EDWIN AND EMMA. 251 

39. 

Lost was that sweet simplicity ; 

Her eye's bright lustre fled ; 
And o'er her cheeks, where roses bloom' d, 

A sickly paleness spread. 

40. 

So fades the flower before its time, 

Where canker-worms assail; 
So droops the bud upon its stem, 

Beneath the sickly gale. 

Clare's Poems, 1820, p. 16. 

John Clare,* the humble poet of rural life, has shown, by a deli- 
cate imitation in the above poem, written at a very early age, his 
appreciation of Edwin and Emma. 

* A writer in the Quarterly Review (vol. xxiii. p. 168) remarks " that some of 
the ballad stanzas of Clare rival the native simplicity of Tickell or Mallet." 



EDITIONS OF EDWIN AND EMMA. 



i 



255 



[©rlgltul aritle-page.] 



EDWIN, 



E M M .A. 



>oW>o^o^>o^o^o^o^o^o^o^o<(>o<M>o^oOo^o< 



BIRMINGHAM: 

Printed by J H N B ASKEBYILLE, 
for A. MILL AK in the Strand. 



The following are the readings in the above edition 

Line 12 : " When May's sweet mornings break." 
Line 22 : " A soul that knew no art." 



257 



EDWIN 



EMMA. 



A POEM. 



By MR. MALLET. 



Fortis ut mors est Amor; aquae multse non possunt extinguere hunc Amorem, 
ne flumina quidem inundarent eum. 



LONDON: 

PRINTED FOR TAYLOR, IN HOLBORN, NEAR CHANCERY LANE. 

M.DCC.LXXVI. 

Price Is. 



A copy of this edition is in the British Museum (Pamphlets, King's Library, 
161, 1. 82.) 

The frontispiece represents the visit of Martha. Rodger is on his deathbed. 
His father, mother, and sister Hannah, are present. At page 8 is a scroll, con- 
taining the words, " mors et vita:" under which is a fanciful device of two hearts 
pierced by a dart and a torch. 



259 



BASKEBVILLE's OBI GIN AL EDITION 



EDWIN AND EMMA, 

FIRST PRINTED IN THE TEAR 
M.DCC.LX. 



THE FEW REMAINING COPIES OF THIS RARE EDITION ARE ILLUSTRATED 
BY 

LOCAL SUBJECTS, 

DRAWN AND ETCHED BY GEORGE ARNALD. 

TO WHICH IS ADDED 

THE PARISH REGISTER OF THEIR DEATHS. 



ILontJtm : 

PUBLISHED BY LONGMAN, HURST, REES, ORME, AND BROWN, 
PATERNOSTER-ROW. 

Printed by J. M'Creery, Black-Horse-Court, London. 
1810. 



POSTSCRIPT. 



tsedae quoque jure coissent, 



Sed vetuere patres, quod non potuere vetare. 

Ex aequo captis ardebant mentibus ambo. — Ovid. Met. 1. 4. v. 60. 

In the summer of the year 1806, as I had occasion to travel from 
Ambleside, in Westmoreland, to York, I chose the road across 
that extensive and cheerless waste called Stanemore (the name of 
which had been impressed on my memory very early in life by the 
perusal of the foregoing beautiful poem), in order to place myself 
on the scene of the melancholy and interesting event which it 
describes. I felt curious to collect what information I could of the 
unadorned story which tradition might still have preserved. My 
researches were not altogether in vain. I made drawings, too, of 
most of the places alluded to in the poem, or intimately connected 
with it. This I did with no other motive than to preserve and che- 
rish in my own mind, the feelings and reflections which at that 
time occurred to me. Since my return to town I have been advised 
to etch and publish them,* with a persuasion that they would illus- 
trate and add some portion of that lively interest to the poem which 
the scene of such an event never fails to excite. f 

It is to be regretted that the Curate of Bowes, in the preceding- 
letter, has not given a more circumstantial account, which his resi- 

* To this advice I was the more inclined to accede, in consequence of an op- 
portunity presenting itself of my procuring 100 copies of the original edition (now 
very scarce), which may justly be considered as a specimen of the most beautiful 
typography of the time. 

t Movemur enim, nescio quo pacto (says Cicero) locis ipsis in quibus eorum 
quos admiramur adsunt vestigia. 



262 EDWIN AND EMMA. 

dence on the spot, and living so near the time of the event, enabled 
him to have done. The following is a faithful transcription of the 
register to which he alludes : — 

"Roger Wrightson, jun. and Martha Railton, both of Bowes, 
buried in one grave ; he died in a fever ; and upon hearing his pass- 
ing bell, she cried out, My heart is broke, and in a few hours ex- 
pired (supposed) thro' love, March 15th, 1714, (aged about 20 
years each.)" 

The words between the parenthesis are interlined. — The wife of 
the present parish clerk knew the sister of Martha very well, and 
has often heard her mention them. — The spot where they lived is 
well known; but no vestige of their habitation remains. On the 
scite of Wrightson's house (whose parents were Quakers) now 
stands the residence of one of the schoolmasters. — It is remarkable 
that both families have left the neighbourhood, not the most distant 
relative of either now remaining there. — On the grave of the lovers 
is laid a square stone, which had been the base of a small cross for- 
merly standing in the church-yard, and removed to where it now 
lies by the people of the place, in commemoration of their untimely 
fate. The rudeness and frailty of this memorial has been amply 
compensated by the poet, who has reared them a monument more 
durable than brass, and which will perish only with the English 
language. 

This edition contains five plates, and the above Postscript by 
the Editor. In some copies the plates are coloured. I had met 
with a copy of Baskerville's edition ; but I had never seen or heard 
of Mr. Arnald's until 1838, when, in answer to some inquiries which 
I had made, I found it mentioned in a communication to the Gentle- 
man's Magazine, vol. ix. N.s. p. 250.* After making fruitless at- 
tempts to procure a copy, I wrote to the veteran artist himself, and 
received from him the following' letter : 



* See Gentleman's Magazine for 1838, Jan., Minor Coir. F. ; also for Feb. and 
March, Letter signed E. I. C. 



LETTER FROM G. ARNALD. 



263 



SlB, 



2 Weston Street, Pentonville. 



I have been favoured by a communication from you re- 
lative to the poem of Edwin and Emma. It has roused in my mind 
a feeling long dormant on the subject of that beautiful poem. In 
the year 1806 I passed thro' Bowes, and felt very much interested 
in being on the spot where the circumstance occurred; and being 
by profession an artist, I drew every local matter which had any 
thing to do with it. My publication of it in the year 1810 was in 
consequence of meeting with 100 copies of the poem, printed by 
Baskerville in 1760, which I published with my own local illustra- 
tions and remarks, with all the information I could collect on the 
subject; and it was published at a guinea. Longman and Kees 
were the publishers; but I am sure they have none of them. I 
knoAvbut of two copies, one of them, perhaps, might be parted with, 
but the person would not take less than two guineas.* 

I am, Sir, your most obedient servant, 

1 NOV. 1838. G. AENALD.f 

* A few months after the receipt of this letter, Mr. Setchell, bookseller, of 
King Street, Covent Garden, procured me a copy. 

t George Amald, A.R.A., died a.d. 1S41, Nov. 21, aged 79. In the Catalogue 
of the British Institution for 1S12, and subsequently, Mr. Amald is styled 
" Landscape Painter to H.R.H. the Duke of Gloucester." 

Subjoined are facsimiles of the inscription in a copy presented to the printer, 
and of Mr. Arnald's autograph in the above letter. 



y^^^^^^y 



■^ 




264 EDWIN AND EMMA. 

Of the Curate's Letter and the Burial Eegister I have already 
spoken. The Parish Clerk and his wife I myself knew very well. 
Isabella (better known as Bella) Sayer, the Clerk's wife,* was, in 
early life, servant to John Railton, at the George Inn. 

Mr. Arnald is in error in stating that the Wrightsons were 
Quakers. As regards the square stone, which is the subject of one 
of the illustrations in his edition, there has been no trace of it in my 
recollection, and I cannot ascertain that such a stone ever existed. 



COLLECTIONS OF POETEY 
In which Edwin and Emma has been printed. 

Mendez's Collection of Poems, 1767, p. 92. 

Pearch's Collection of Poems, edition 1775. 

Enfield's Speaker. 

Aikin's Songs, 1770, p. 82 ; 1810, p. 73. 

Love Tales and Elegies, London, 1775, p. 112. 

Modern Poems, A. Foulis, Glasgow, 1776, p. 163. 

Bell's British Poets, 1777-82, vol. lxxiii.-iv. p. 159. 

The Lady's Poetical Magazine ; or, Beauties of British Poets, 4 vols. 
London, 1781, vol. ii. p. 134. 

Poetical Pieces of eminent English Poets, by Retzer, 6 vols. Vienna, 
1783-6, vol. vi. p. 155. 

Evans' Old Ballads, edition 1784, vol. ii. p. 237. 

Bitson's Caledonian Muse, printed in 1785, published in 1810, 
p. 146. 

The Cabinet of Genius, London, 1787. 

Johnson's English Poets, 75 vols. 1790, vol. lxiii. p. 171. 

Anderson's British Poets, 1792-3-4, vol. ix. p. 716. 

Cooke's Select British Poets, 1794-5-6. 

Sharpe's British Poets, by Thomas Park, Esq. F.S.A. 

Mavor's Classical Poetry, 1807, p. 397. 

Cabinet of Poetry, 6 vols. London, 1808, vol. iv. p. 189. 

Muses' Bower, 4 vols. London, 1809, vol. ii. p. 150. 

Chalmer's English Poets, 1810, voL xiv. p. 43. 

Tomkins' Poems, 1847, p. 32. 

Whittingham's British Poets, 1822, vol. xlviii. 

The Works of the British Poets, edited by E. Sanford, New York, 
1822, vol. xxvi. p. 286. 

* See p. 181. 



WORKS CONTAINING EDWIN AND EMMA. 265 

Gems of British Poesy, London, 1824. 

Hazlitt's Select Poets of Great Britain, 1825, p. 430. 

Poems, selected from the Works of approved Authors, Dublin, 1825. 

Leigh Hunt's London Journal, 1835, Feb. 25, p. 52. 

Specimens of English Poetry, London, 1837. 

Book of Gems, 1837, p. 108. 

The Book of the Poets, from Chaucer to Beattie, London, 1842, 
p. 285. 

Cyclopaedia of English Literature, edited by B. Chambers, 1844, 
vol. ii. p. 42. 

Selections from the English Poets from Spenser to Beattie, London, 
1846, p. 265. 

Florilegium Poeticum Anglicanum, 1852, p. 20. 

Specimens of English Poetry for the use of Charterhouse School, 
1855, p. 11. 



266 



[" Enthusiast fancy leans 
On the attendant legend of the scenes." 

Kirke White.] 



THE PATTERN OF TRUE LOVE; 
OR, BOWES TRAGEDY : 

Being a true relation of the life and death of Roger Wrightson and Martha 
Railton, of the town of Bowes, in the county of Yorkshire ; showing how the 
young man fell sick on Shrove-Tuesday, the 27th of February last,* and died 
the 13th of March following: Wherein is set forth the hard usage which the 
young Avoman met with during the time of his sickness ; and upon hearing 
the first toll of the passing bell, she fainted away, but by the shrieks and 
cries of her mother and a young woman, was call'd back again, and in amaz- 
ing condition continued about 12 hours, and then died: Also the weeping la- 
mentation made by both friends at the grave, where she was first laid and 
then he, being a fit pattern for all young men and women to pi'ove constant 
in love, with a word of advice to all hard-hearted parents, not to cross their 
children in love. 

N.B. — He was observed to say three times (j us t before he died), Martha, Martha, 
come away. 

Love is stronger than Life. 



A PATTERN OF TRUE LOVE, &c. 
Roger Wrightson, son to Roger Wrightson, at the sign of the 
King's Head, in Bowes (near Barnard Castle), in Yorkshire, courted 
Widow Railton's daughter, at the sign of the George, in the same 
town, and has done more than a year. On Shrove Tuesday last he 
fell sick, and languished till Sunday next but one following, and 
then died. Poor Martha Railton (for that was the maid's name 
whom he courted), tho' privately, took heavy on all that time, and 
only had declared to her sister and another that if he died she 
could not live. An honest friend is unworthily blam'd for doing 
what I would have done myself, had I known it; for Martha Railton 
begged of him to go and see young Roger, and tell him she would 

* There is a slight error here. Shrove-Tuesday, 1714-15, was on the 1st 
March. The day intended was probably Tuesday, twelve days being mentioned 
as the duration of the young man's illness. Easter Day. 1715, fell on the 17th 
April. 



A PATTERN OF TRUE LOVE. 267 

gladly come and see him if he thought fit (knowing all his father's 
family was against her). Eoger answer'd, Nay, nay, T — my, our 
folks will be mad ; but tell her I hope I shall recover. 

Well, the poor lass almost dead in sorrow, first sent an orange, 
but Roger's mother sent it back; yet about three days before his 
death, Martha went: his mother was so civil as to leave her by his 
bed-side, and ordered her daughter Hannah to come away, but she 
w^ould not. Poor Martha wanted only to speak three words to him, 
and altho' she stay'd two hours, yet Hannah would not let her 
have an opportunity, and so in a sorrowful manner she left him. 

Her book was her constant work, Friday, Saturday, and Sun- 
day; and she would often say to herself, Oh you Hannah! if he 
dies, my heart will burst. So on the same Sunday sennight, at 
5 o'clock in the afternoon, the bell was toll'd for him; and upon 
hearing the first toll, Martha laid by her book, got her mother in 
her arms, with, Oh ! dear mother, he's dead, I cannot live ! About 
three minutes after, Thomas Petty* went in and desired her to be 
more easy; her answer was, Nay, nay, now my heart is burst: and 
so in mournful cries and prayers, was fainter and fainter for about 
three hours, and seemed to breathe her last, but her mother and 
another girl of the town shriek'd aloud, and so called her back 
again, as they term it, and in amazed manner, distorted with con- 
vulsion fits (just as it is described in Dr. Taylor's Holy Living and 
Dying), stayed her spirit 10 or 12 hours longer, and then died. . 

At last things was brought to this issue, to be both buried in 
one grave, and the corpses met at the church-gate, but Hannah ob- 
jected against their being buried together, as also she did at her 
being laid first in the grave, but was answered, that a bride was to 
go first to bed: she being asked why she would be so proud and in- 
human, answered, that the said Martha might have taken fairer on, 
or have been hanged. But oh ! the loud mourning of friends on 
both sides, at the corpses meeting, and more at the grave; wherein 
first she was decently laid, and then he. 

* The friend, as it should seem, who carried the message as hefore related. 
[Note by Ritson.] 



3 



BOWES TRAGEDY, 

Being a true relation of the lives and characters of ROGER WRIGHTSON and 
MARTHA RAILTON, of the town of Bowes, in the county of York, who 
died for the love of each other in March last. 

Tune of Queen Dido. 

Good Christian people pray attend 

To what I do in sorrow sing ; 
My bleeding heart is like to rend, 

At the sad tidings which I bring, 
Of a young couple, whom cruel fate 
Designed to be unfortunate. 

Let Carthage queen be now no more 

The subject of your mournful song ; 
Nor such odd tales which heretofore 

Did so amuse the teeming throng ; 
Since the sad story which I'll tell 
All other tragedies excel. 

Yorkshire, the ancient town of Bowes, 

Of late did Roger Wrightson dwell ; 
He courted Martha Railton, who 

In virtuous works did most excel ; 
Yet Eoger's friends would not agree 
That he to her should married be. 

Their love continued one whole year, 

Full sore against their parents' will ; 
But when he found them so severe, 

His royal heart began to chill ; 
And last Shrove Tuesday took his bed, 
With grief and woe encompassed. 

Thus he continued twelve days space, 

In anguish and in grief of mind ; 
And no sweet rest in any case 

This ardent lover's heart could find ; 
But 1 anguish' d in a train of grief, 
Which pierc'd his heart beyond relief. 






«*#' 



BOWES TRAGEDY. 269 

Martha with anxious thoughts possest, 

A private message to him sent, 
Acquainting him she could not rest 

Until she had seen her loving friend : 
His answer was, " Nay, nay, my dear, 
" Our folks will angry be, I fear." 

Full fraught with grief, she took no rest, 

But spent her time in pain and fear, 
Until few days before his death, 

She sent an orange to her dear ; 
But 's cruel mother in disdain, 
Did send the orange back again. 

Three days before her lover died, 

Poor Martha, with a bleeding heart, 
To see her dying lover hied, 

In hopes to ease him of his smart ; 
Where she's conducted to the bed 
On which this faithful young man laid : 

Where she with doleful cries beheld 

Her fainting lover in despair ; 
Which did her heart with sorrow fill : — 

Small was the comfort she had there, 
Tho 's mother shew'd her great respect, 
His sister did her much reject. 

She staid two hours with her dear, 

In hopes for to declare her mind ; 
But Hannah Wrightson stood so near, 

No time to do it she could find : 
So that being almost dead with grief, 
Away she went without relief. 

Tears from her eyes did flow amain, 

And she full oft would sighing say, 
1 ' My constant love, alas ! is slain, 

" And to pale death become a prey : 
1 ' Oh ! Hannah, Hannah, thou art base ; 
" Thy pride will turn to foul disgrace." 

She spent her time in godly prayers, 

And quiet rest from her did fly ; 
She to her friends full oft declares, 

She could not live if he did die : 



270 EDWIN AND EMMA. 

Thus she continued till the bell 
Began to sound his fatal knell. 

And when she heard the dismal sound, 

Her godly book she cast away, 
With bitter cries would pierce the ground ; 

Her fainting heart began to decay : 
She to her pensive mother said, 

" I cannot live now he is dead." 

Then after three short minutes space, 

As she in sorrow groaning lay ; 
A gentleman* did her embrace, 

And mildly unto her did say, 
" Dear melting soul, be not so sad, 
" But let your passion be allay'd." 

Her answer was, " My heart is burst, 

" My span of life is near an end ; 
" My love from me by death is forc'd, 

"My grief no soul can comprehend." 
Then her poor soul did soon wax faint, 
When she had ended her complaint. 

For three hours space as in a trance 

This broken-hearted creature lay, 
Her mother wailing her mischance, 

To pacify her did essay : 
But all in vain, for strength being past, 

She seemingly did breathe her last. 

Her mother thinking she was dead, 

Began to shriek and cry amain ; 
And heavy lamentations made, 

Which called her spirit back again ; 
To be an object of hard fate, 
And give to grief a longer date. 

Distorted with convulsions, she 

In dreadful manner gasping lay, 
Of twelve long hours no moment free, 

Her bitter groans did all dismay : 
Then her poor heart being sadly broke, 
Submitted to the fatal stroke. 

* This gentleman was Mr. Thomas Petty. See the Preface. [Note by Ritson.] 



BOWES TRAGEDY. 271 

When things was to this issue brought, 

Both in one grave was to be laid : 
But flinty hearted Hannah thought, 

By stubborn means for to persuade 
Their friends and neighbours from the same, 
For which she surely was to blame. 

And being ask'd the reason why 

Such base objections she did make ; 
She answered thus scornfully, 

In words not fit for Billingsgate : 
" She might have taken fairer on, 
" Or else be hanged." Oh ! heart of stone : — 

What hell-born fury had possest 

Thy vile inhuman spirit thus ? 
What swelling rage was in thy breast, 

That could occasion this disgust ? 
And make thee shew such spleen and rage. 
Which life can't cure, nor death assuage. 

Sure some of Satan's minor imps 

Ordained was to be thy guide ; 
To act the part of sordid pimps, 

And fill thy heart with haughty pride ; 
But take this caveat once for all, 
Such dev'lish pride must have a fall. 

And when to church the corpse was brought, 

And both of them met at the gate ; 
What mournful tears by friends was shed, 

When that, alas ! it was too late : 
When they in silent grave was laid, 
Instead of pleasing marriage bed. 

You parents all both far and near, 

By this sad story warning take ; 
Nor to your children be severe, 

When they their choice in love do make ; 
Let not the love of cursed gold 
True lovers from then loves withhold. 



It is uncertain who was the writer of the Ballad of " The Bowes 
Tragedy." The short account in prose and the Ballad were pro- 



272 EDWIN AND EMMA. 

bably written by the same person; and the longer prose version, 
which seems adapted from the Ballad, might be written by some 
other person subsequently. The authorship of the Ballad has been 
assigned by common tradition to a Bowes schoolmaster; as also to 
Thomas Petty, who, it is said, came a stranger to Bowes, and was a 
person of independent means, and of education and habits superior 
to those of an ordinary villager. He was churchwarden in 1725. 
A tombstone to the memory of himself and other members of his 
family stands on the south-east side of the church, not far from the 
porch. 

The Petty family, it is said, resided near the Castle, not far 
from what is now called Castle Cottage, formerly Cansey House. 



PETTY FAMILY. 



273 



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daughter of 
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of Bowes ; 
aptised Sept. 
18th, 1720; 
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BOWES LOVE; 

OR, LOVE IN ITS STATE OF PURITY. 



In days of yore, when innocence prevail' d, 
Love's tender passion was the ruling power, 

"With which the swain the gentle maid assail' d, 
Tho' virtuous, yielding in some lonely bower. 

The eloquence of heart inspir'd his tongue, 
In nature's language all his thoughts express'd, 

She blush' d consent, on all his accents hung, 
And welcom'd the destroyer of her rest. 

But who could think in Bowes, where feelings fine 
Scarce brush'd the brutal passions from the mind, 

Sweet love array' d in virtue's robe should shine, 
And in a rustic's breast a shelter find ? 

But yet in memory's time two lovers true, 
With nature's purest, finest passion fired, 

Each still to each the sacred fondness due 
At love's bright altar paid, and then expired. 

Fair was the maid, still fairer was her heart, 
Who found the way the rural swain to move, 

Whose winning eyes discharg'd the pointed dart 
That fix'd in Roger's breast the wound of love. 

Pure was his passion, his intentions pure ; 

But ah ! his parents, with unfeeling soul, 
Consent denied, entic'd by lucre's lure, 

And gave him to a sister's mean control. 

Her mind, true semblance of her outward form, 
Knew no fine passion of the tender kind ; 

Her face betrayed base envy's bitter storm, 
Rankling and feasting on her wayward mind. 






BOWES LOVE. 275 

Few were the words her feeling brother spoke, 
Distemper shew'd how ill he brook' d his grief, 

Life's finest chords in one short moment broke, 
And gave what friends denied, a long relief. 

As life's tide ebb'd, he call'd on Martha's name, 
His ghost, thrice beck'ning, told her haste away ; 

She heard, obeyed, her fondness still the same, 
And in the cold grave mingled was their clay. 

This was the subject Mallet's muse unloos'd 

To draw his Edwin's Emma's fairy tale,* 
In fiction's ink his lyric pen infus'd ; 

Wrote visionary stories of the vale. 

Here, too, creative Hutchinson essay'd, 

In past'ral bombast to enchant the mind ; 
But ah ! his Cottagef vanity portray'd 

Falls at the blast of keen discernment's wind. — 

May thou, fair maid, who bade my muse unfold 
Her latent powers, and sing the tale of Bowes, 

Ne'er be attracted by the charms of gold 
At Hymen's shrine to dedicate thy vows. 

But oh ! whene'er thou joinest faithful hands 
With some deserving youth, may every power 

Attendant wait to tie the marriage bands, 
And smile propitious on thy nuptial hour. 

Thomas Denton. 



The Rev. Thomas Denton came to live at Bowes some time after 
the year 1795. He had no clerical duty. He was very intimate 
with a family of the name of Brougham, who had resided for a short 
time at Bowes, and the last two stanzas are supposed to be addressed 
to Miss Brougham, the only daughter. Bowes Love was written 
some time between 1795 and 1800. Mr. Denton did not die at 
Bowes. 



* It is doubtful whether this is a correct reading. 

j A Week at a Cottage, a pastoral tale, by Win, Hutchinson, the historian of 
the county of Durham, was published in 1776. 



INSCRIPTION FOR THE MONUMENT 

OF 

EDWIN AND EMMA. 



If o'er the lofty mountains of the north, 

Or to green southern vales your course may steer, 

Stop, traveller, and know that real worth, 

Truth, love, and duty, bloom' d and faded here. 

Here Edwin rests, the pride of village swains, 
With Emma, lovelier than the new-blown rose : 

Parental tyrants ! death hath loosed your chains, 
And given to broken hearts their last repose. 

Oh ! learn from hence, ye sordid and unjust, 

The dire effects of cruelty and pride ; 
And let their voices, breathing from the dust, 

Bid you beware the fault by which they died. 

And take the lesson, too, ye gentle minds, 

Whose pensive footsteps to this grave may rove, 

To shun, while filial duty closely binds, 
The lasting anguish of a hopeless love. 

Poetical Register for 1801, London, p. 379. 



Dr. Langhorne's Theodosius and Constantia (Part 2, published 
in 1764) contains the beautiful Lines to Simplicity, in which the 
poet appears to allude to the tragic incidents which form the subject 
of Edwin and Emma. 

* * * * 

5. 
When past was many a painful day, 
Slow pacing o'er the village green, 
In white were all its maidens seen, 
And bore my guardian friend away. 
Ah death ; what sacrifice to thee, 
The ruins of Simplicity ! 



LINES TO SIMPLICITY. 277 



One generous swain her heart appro v*d, 
A youth, whose fond and faithful breast 
With many an artless sigh conf ess'd, 

In nature's language, that he lovM. 
But, stranger, 'tis no tale for thee, 
Unless thou lov'st Simplicity. 



He died ; and soon her lip was cold, 
And soon her rosy cheek was pale 
The village wept to hear the tale, 

When for both the slow bell toll'd — 
Beneath yon flowery turf they lie, 
The lovers of Simplicity. 



SONG. 

TO A SCOTCH TUNE, 

THE BIKKS OF ENDERMAY. 



This song was inserted in the Orpheus Caledonius, 1733; and by 
Ramsay in the fourth volume of his Tea-table Miscellany (about 
1740) ; but he altered the last line of the two stanzas into the Birks 
of Invermay. He also published three additional stanzas, written, 
it is said, by Mr. Bryce, minister of Kirknewton.* This song is 
printed in the GentlemaJi's Magazine, vol. vii. p. 565, as The Birks 
of Innermay, a celebrated new Scotch Song and Tune. It is also con- 
tained in The Lark, a Collection of choice Scots Songs, Edinburgh, 
1768, p. 29. 

I. 

The smiling morn, the breathing spring, 

Invite the tuneful birds to sing : 

And while they warble from each spray, 

Love melts the universal lay. 

Let us, Amanda, timely wise, 

Like them improve the hour that flies ; 

And, in soft raptures, waste the day, 

Among the shades of Endermay. 

* See Stenhouse's Lyric Poetry of Scotland, pp. 75, 



280 THE BIRKS OF ENDERMAY. 

II. 

For soon the winter of the year, 
And age, life's winter, will appear : 
At this, thy living bloom must fade ; 
As that will strip the verdant shade. 
Our taste of pleasure then is o'er ; 
The feathered songsters love no more 
And when they droop, and we decay, 
Adieu the shades of Endermay ! 



[The three additional stanzas published by Ramsay.] 
III. 

The lavrocks now and lintwhite sing, 
The rocks around with echoes ring ; 
The mavis and the blackbird vie, 
In tuneful strains to glad the day ; 
The woods now wear their summer suits ; 
To mirth all nature now invites : 
Let us be blythesome, then, and gay, 
Among the birks of Invermay. 



THE BIRKS OP ENDERMAY. 281 

IV. 

Behold the hills and vales around, 
With lowing herds and flocks abound ; 
The wanton kids and frisking lambs. 
Gambol and dance about their dams ; 
The busy bees with humming noise, 
And all the reptile kind rejoice : 
Let us, like them, then sing and play- 
About the birks of Invermay. 



Hark, how the waters as they fall, 
Loudly my love to gladness call ; 
The wanton waves sport in the beams, 
And fishes play throughout the streams ; 
The circling sun does now advance, 
And all the planets round him dance : 
Let us as jovial be as they 
Among the birks of Invermay. 



This song is addressed to Amanda. Thomson addressed several 
small poems to a lady under the same name. 



2 82 THE BIRKS OF ENDERMAY. 

" Invermay is a small woody glen, watered by the rivulet Ma,y, 
which there joins the river Earn. It is about five miles above the 
Bridge of Earn, and nearly nine from Perth. The seat of Mr. 
Belches, the proprietor of this poetical region, and who takes from 
it his territorial designation, stands at the bottom of the glen. Both 
sides of the little vale are completely wooded, chiefly with birches ; 
and it is altogether, in point of natural loveliness, a scene worthy 
of the attention of the amatory muse. The course of the May is 
so sunk among rocks, that it cannot be seen, but it can easily be 
traced in its progress by another sense. The peculiar sound which 
it makes in rushing through one particular part of its narrow, rug- 
ged, and tortuous channel, has occasioned the descriptive appella- 
tion of the Humble- Bumble to be attached to that quarter of the 
vale. Invermay may be at once and correctly described as the 
fairest possible little miniature specimen of cascade scenery."* 



* R. Chambers. See Stenhouse's Lyric Poetry of Scotland, pp. 75, 137* ; Allan 
Cunningham's Songs of Scotland, vol. iii. 105. 



283 



THE BIRKS OF ENDERMAY. 



Thomson's Orpheus Caledonius* 2d edition, 
1733, No. 43. 



ta=?=g; 



im 



^^^ 



The smil - ing morn, the breath - ing spring, In - 



gjfeEEEgE^E=3 



^ 



*fc=f 



vite the tune - ful birds to sing; And 



3!=3i 



m 



i 



tf. 



S 



:E2 



iigrt: 



E=£^i 



s 



S=H 



m 



while they war - hie from each spray, Love 



*£ 



3=P=^ 



g^^iSmm 



s= 



melts the u - ni - ver - sal lay. 



Let 



m^- 



fi^^^^^l 



E^ai 



H^F^^g^^i 



A - man - da, time - ly wise, Like 



gggjgil 



m 



^g: 



— t- 



* This music is printed also in Gent's Mag., vol. vii. p. 694. 



284 



THE BIRKS OF ENDERMAY. 



them, im - prove the hour that 



-I 

that flies ; 



And 



333* 



17 ~ 1 



dgjggg 






gufe 



soft rap 



tures waste the day, 



SEES 



I ^E^ J 



^P 



£=2 



^gsp^S^j^^d^^ 



mong the birks of En der - may. 



stss: 



P=£ 



j^PF=pi 



^S 



2. 
For soon the winter of the year, 
And age, life's winter, will appear : 
At this thy living bloom will fade, 
As that will strip the verdant shade. 
Our taste of pleasure then is o'er ; 
The feather'd songsters love no more : 
And when they droop, and we decay, 
Adieu the birks of Endermay ! 



285 



THE BIRKS OF ENDERMA.Y. 

(FOR THE FLUTE.) 

Thomson's Orpheus Caledonius, 1733, vol. ii. No. 43 



^-g^tf^^ SE p^j^^^^ 



wm=mtm 



ztfefcri^iPffafcp 



^aii^gE^a 



w^^^=mmm^mm 



si 



£=ife&tt 



4* 



^ BPOJg 




i^S^il^^ 



^ 



THE BIRKS OF ENDERMAY. 

(FOR THE FLUTE.) 

Gentleman's Magazine, vol. vii. p. 694. 



** 






feaaEE^ 



-?-. 



mm-sm^m 



^±l^ ^^= ^E^m^EEE^^M 



286 



THE BIRKS OF ENDERMAY. 






*=- 






-2 t^_*_. 



ipE 



Pr-1 



S S--I-TJT 



Js^: 



Slow. 



THE BIRKS OF ENDERMAY. 
(foe the flute.) 
Oswald's Caledonian Pocket Companion,* vol. ii. p. 



^^^^^^ 



pi^sp^^^^ai 



^^P^P^g3^p#^"^ 






:tst=C=E=^ 



tEEE 



i^i^pifeSai^ilfeii 



* This music (for Flute) is also in English Ballads (British Museum), 9 vols., 
vol. vii. No. 177, p. 209 ; and London Magazine, vol. xl. p. 558. 



287 



THE BIRKS OF ENDERMAY. 

SUNG BY MRS. JEWELL, IN " THE MAID OF BATH," A.D. 1771. 



listen 



?f=?- 



& 



^^ ^s . 



Sym. 



*^srs=^ 



?^Bi 



■+-*- 



l^^g 



It 



^^i^=^^L^ 



EStfcj: 







-M i 4 ; 1 


-J*> 




•— ****** i X~l ■' ■ " 


vites tile tune 
6 6 


ful 
— " 


=1 - 
birds 


=3r gqj ^ T 

to sing ; And 

-Pd— r r F 


a : k — j 




d^ 


— * F _._.._ b 



* This song is introduced in the second act of Foote's Maid of Bath, acted at 
the Haymarket twelve times between June 26 and July 22, 1771. The second 
verse of Mallet is somewhat altered: the first of the three, by Allan Ramsay, is 
omitted; and in every verse of the song as sung, Endermay is adopted in the 
last line. In Foote's Dramatic Works the first verse of the song is printed. This 
music is in A Collection of Eyiglish Ballads, from the beginning of the 18th cen- 
tury, in the Library of the British Museum, 9 vols., vol. vii. No. 177, p. 209. 



288 



THE BIKKS OF ENDERMAY. 



t2=S: 



£=* 



sqpS 



while they war 



^F 



-£=5- 



gg^ ^q j 



tot 



ble from each spray, Love 

6 6 6 6 



S^ 



--4 1 



^=eJ^===* 



^ 



^g^^^^^^i^ 



melts the u 

6 

4 



ni - ver - sal lay. 

6 5 



Let 



iBifc* 



:i h 



*— — f: 



s^m^ 



=rn: 



:a±E 



E£ES3 



zirzg: 



man - da. 



time - ly wise, Like 



^EEEE-pE 



&n-& 



t^^^^^^s* 



3^^ 



M=*Z 



them, im - prove the hour that flies; And, 

7 



ESfc 



m 



m 



^gg^g=p 




THE BIRKS OF ENDERMAY. 



289 



of El 

6 
6 4 

S 



mong the birks of 
6 

4 6 



33E£ 



En - der-uiay. 
6 5 



t=t 



3 



Soon wears the summer of the year, 
And love, like winter, will appear : 
Like this your lively bloom will fade, 
As that will strip the verdant shade. 
Our taste for pleasure then is o'er; 
The feather'd songsters charm no more 
And when they droop, and we decay, 
Adieu the birks of Endermay ! 



Behold the hills and vales around 
With lowing herds and flocks abound ; 
The wanton kids and frisking lambs 
Gambol and dance about their dams ; 
The busy bees, with humming noise, 
And all the reptile kind rejoice : 
Let us, like them, then sing and play, 
About the birks of Endermay ! 



4. 
Hark ! how the waters, as they fall, 
Loudly my love to gladness call ; 
The wanton waves sport in the beams, 
And fishes play throughout the streams ; 
The circling sun does now advance, 
And all the planets round him dance ; 
Let us as jovial be as they, 
Among the birks of Endermay ! 



SONG. 

TO A SCOTCH TUNE, 

MARY SCOTT.* 



This song is contained in the author's Poems, 1743, but is not in 
the edition of his collected works, 1759. 

I. 

Where Thames, along the daisy'd meads, 
His wave, in lucid mazes, leads, 
Silent, slow, serenely flowing, 
Wealth on either shore bestowing : 
There, in a safe tho* small retreat, 
Content and Love have fix'd their seat : 
Love that counts his duty pleasure ; 
Content that knows, and hugs his treasure. 

ii. 
From art, from jealousy secure; 
As faith unblam'd, as friendship pure j 
Vain opinion nobly scorning ; 
Virtue aiding, life adorning. 
Fair Thames, along thy flowery side, 
May those whom Truth and Reason guide, 

* For mention of this ancient border air, see Stenhouse's Lyric Poetry, pp. 77, 
78, 115.* For music, see Thomson's Orpheus Caledonius, 1725 and 1733; Oswald's 
Caledonian Pocket Companion, vol. i. p. 4. 



MARY SCOTT. 291 

All their tender hours improving, 
Live like us, belov'd and loving ! 

This song, which appeared in the collection of the author's 
Poems, published about October 1 743, was probably composed by 
him not long before, in honour of his second wife, whom he married 
in October 1742. There is ample reason for believing that Mallet 
and his wife lived on terms of the greatest happiness. His attach- 
ment to her is exhibited in other productions of his pen besides the 
above song. In 1747 he addresses to her the following sonnet, 
which is prefixed to Amyntor and Theodora, 

" To Mrs. Mallet. 
Thou faithful partner of a heart thy own, 
Whose pain or pleasure springs from thine alone; 
Thou, true as honour, as compassion kind, 
That, in sweet union, harmonise thy mind : 
Here, while thy eyes, for sad Amyiitor's woe, 
And Theodora's wreck, with tears o'erflow, 
may thy friend's warm wish to heaven preferr'd 
For thee, for him, by gracious heaven be heard ! 
So her fair hour of fortune shall be thine, 
Unmix'd ; and all Amyntor' s fondness mine, 
So, thro' long vernal life, with blended ray, 
Shall Love light up, and Friendship close our day : 
Till, summon'd late this lower heaven to leave, 
One sigh shall end us, and one earth receive." 

In his poem of Cupid and Hymen, written in 1750, on the anni- 
ersary of his wedding-day, we find similar sentiments of love and 
affection. 

"Behold yon couple, arm in arm, 
Whom I, eight years, have known to charm ; 
And, while they wear my willing chains, 
A god dares swear that neither feigns. 
This morn that bound their mutual vow, 
That blest them first and blesses now, 
They grateful hail ! and, from the soul, 
Wish thousands o'er both heads may roll ; 
Till, from life's banquet, either guest, 
Embracing, may retire to rest." — Lines 71-80. 



RULE, BRITANNIA. 



Rule Britannia first appeared in the Masque of Alfred, 1740, which 
was written by Mallet jointly with Thomson. In the Masque, as 
altered by Mallet in 1751, three of the six original stanzas were 
omitted, and three additional stanzas, written by Lord Bolingbroke, 
were substituted. The original ode is ascribed to Mallet by a judi- 
cious critic and editor of Thomson, " on no slight evidence." The 
process by which that conclusion is arrived at may be briefly stated. 

In the Advertisement prefixed to Alfred, in the edition of 1751, 
Mallet thus writes : " According to the present arrangement of the 
Fable, I was obliged to reject a great deal of what I had written in 
the other : neither could I retain, of my friend's part, more than 
three or four single speeches, and a part of one song." And, in a 
note in the edition of 1759, he adds: "The stanzas marked with 
asterisks* were written by the late Lord Bolingbroke, in 1751." 

Now there are six lyrical pieces in the Alfred of 1740 ; four of 
which are expressly called " Songs :" another is called " Stanzas," 
being, in fact, a duet ; but " When Britain first, &c." is called an 
Ode. This circumstance alone seems conclusive. 

The song in edition 1740 beginning 

" From those eternal regions bright — " 

is enlarged into an ode in edition 1751 (act iii. sc. 5), by the addi- 
tion of some lines and a chorus, and the first verse only of the song 
is retained. This, doubtless, is the one which is alluded to by Mal- 
let, when he says that he could not retain of his friend's part more 
than three or four single speeches and a part of one song. If Mal- 
let had alluded to Rule Britannia, he would probably have said that 

» The 3d, 5th, and 6th. 



RULE, BRITANNIA. 293 

he could only retain some stanzas, but he says part of one song, the 
song in question not being in stanzas ; and we may presume that 
if he had had occasion even to allude to Rule Britannia, he would 
at the same time have mentioned the fact of three stanzas by Lord 
Bolingbroke being substituted for three original ones. 

Thus, then, the external evidence is in favour of Mallet. More- 
over, the songs of Thomson carry with them no lyrical rhythm, and 
seem to have been written rather to be read than sung. Now this 
is just the reverse in Rule Britannia, and in some of the undisputed 
lyrical pieces of Mallet. It is more likely, too, that Lord Boling- 
broke should have taken the pains to add to a poem of Mallet's than 
to one of Thomson's. 

In favour of Thomson, it has been observed, that Rule Britannia 
is not included in any separate edition of Mallet's poems. 

The same observation, may be made as to Thomson's poems. It 
has not been published in any separate edition till very recently.* 

The entire masque is included in Mallet's Works, published in 
1759, in his lifetime. Since his death his poems have been printed 
exclusive of his plays. 

If the celebrity of Rule Britannia be alleged as a reason for its 
separate publication, it must be remembered that it is in some mea- 
sure from length of time that it has attained such celebrity. Be- 
sides, no other songs, his acknowledged productions, from the 
masques of Alfred (1751) or Britannia, are included in separate 
editions of his poems, with the exception of A youth adorned, Sfc, 
which, even if written for the masque of Alfred, was first published 
separately as an ode by the author, in his poems (1743), and after- 
wards inserted in Alfred (1751). This has continued to be printed 



& 



separately in the several collections of the author's poems. v- ' 

Rule Britannia, as first printed in 1740, contained six stanzas. 
The first, second, and third, are retained in the editions of 1751 and 
1759, as the first, second, and fourth. It may be that for a time the 
new version of 1751 superseded the original ; but the ode of 1740 is 

* Bell's Annotated Edition, 1S55. 



294 RULE, BRITANNIA. 

that which has long taken deep root in popular feeling, and is now 
known as one of our national anthems.* 



Rule Britannia is printed at p. 6, in " A Collection of Loyal 
Songs, for the use of the Revolution Club. Some of which never be- 
fore printed." Edinburgh, printed by Robert Fleming, 1749. Price 
Sixpence. 

The song is headed " Britannia." Verses 1, 2, 4, 6, are printed 
with some slight variations from the original. 

This work was reprinted in Edinburgh, 1761. There are other 
reprints of it. 

Rule Britannia is also printed at p. 40, in " A Collection of Loyal 
Songs, Poems, &c," 1750, 8vo, pp. 72 : a work in favour of the 
Pretender. It is headed, 

"A SONG. 

Tune— When Britons first, &c." 

The six verses of the original are given with certain variations. 
The order of verses 3 and 4 is inverted. 
This collection is very scarce. 



Ritson mentions having heard a few lines of a fine parody of 
Rule Britannia, of which he could never obtain a copy. The chorus 
ran thus : 

" Rise, Britannia, Britannia, rise and fight ; 
Restore your injur'd monarch's right." 

It is as a Jacobite song that this parody is mentioned by Ritson. — 
Scotish Songs, 1 794, vol. i. lxix. 



* "The song of Rule Britannia * * * will be the political hymn of this 
country as long as she maintains her political power." — Southey: Later English 
Poets, vol. ii. p. 107. 



WHEN BRITAIN FIRST, &c. 



AN ODE. 



(From Alfred, 1740, act ii. scene 5.) 



I. 

When Britain first, at heaven's command, 

Arose from out the azure main ; 
This was the charter of the land, 
And guardian angels sung this strain : 
"Rule, Britannia, rule the waves : 
Britons never will be slaves." 

ii. 

The nations not so blest as thee 

Must in their turns to tyrants fall ; 
While thou shalt flourish great and free, 
The dread and envy of them all. 

Rule, Britannia, rule the waves : 
Britons never will be slaves. 



296 RULE, BRITANNIA. 

III. 

Still more majestic shalt thou rise, 

More dreadful from each foreign stroke 
As the loud blast that tears the skies 
Serves but to root thy native oak. 

Rule, Britannia, rule the waves : 
Britons never will be slaves. 

IV. 

Thee haughty tyrants ne'er shall tame : 
All their attempts to bend thee down 
Will but arouse thy generous flame ; 
But work their woe, and thy renown. 
Rule, Britannia, rule the waves : 
Britons never will be slaves. 

v. 
To thee belongs the rural reign ; 

Thy cities shall with commerce shine ; 
All thine shall be the subject main; 
And every shore it circles thine. 

Rule, Britannia, rule the waves : 
Britons never will be slaves. 



RULE, BRITANNIA. 297 

VI. 

The Muses, still with freedom found, 

Shall to thy happy coast repair : 
Blest isle ! with matchless beauty crowned, 
And manly hearts to guard the fair. 
Rule, Britannia, rule the waves : 
Britons never will be slaves. 



In Alfred, as altered in 1751, stanzas 4, 5, and 6 of edition 1740 
were omitted ; and three new stanzas, 3,* 5,* 6,* written by Lord 
Eolingbroke in 1751, were introduced. 

III.* 

Should war, should faction shake thy isle, 

And sink to poverty and shame, 
Heaven still shall on Britannia smile, 
Restore her wealth, and raise her name. 
Rule, Britannia, rule the waves : 
Britons never will be slaves* 

IV. 

As the loud blast, that tears thy skies, 

Serves but to root thy native oak; 
Still more majestic shalt thou rise, 

From foreign, from domestic stroke. 



298 RULE, BRITANNIA. 

Rule, Britannia, rule the waves : 
Britons never will be slaves, 

v.* 
How blest the prince, reserved by fate, 

In adverse days to mount thy throne ! 
Renew thy once triumphant state, 
And on thy grandeur build his own ! 
Rule, Britannia, rule the waves : 
Britons never will be slaves. 

vi * 
His race shall long, in times to come, 

So heaven ordains, thy sceptre wield ; 
Rever'd abroad, belov'd at home ; 

And be, at once, thy sword and shield. 
Rule, Britannia, rule the waves : 
Britons never will be slaves. 



RULE, BRITANNIA. 

From Arne's Masque of Alfred. 



rjg#FPpg§ g^ 



*=£ 



^==Ei 




?m 




p-m-n- 



E ^EgEB 3^ ^^^=^ ^^^g 



m 



R: 



3^ 



300 



RULE, BRITANNIA. 






When 



3^3 



g_^J533_ 



Bri - tain 



giU^^H^Hlfli 



first, at heav'n's com-mand 



*— » 



gipl ^^^g^ fssipgi 



piasW 






A - rose 



from out the 



gg^=ppB5B 



3=s=i^3E3Si£^: 



tEP=i==5rarg^g: 



fc*: 



LisEto 



ilpi 



- zure main, 
7 

7 It 



a - rose, a - rose from out the 

4 

2 6 



m^=^=^m^^m^B. 



% 

. ^ 



- zure main ; 



E^ifeE^n^siggi^ 



£ 



i= ^Tlh l^= 



g^pi 



RULE, BRITANNIA. 



301 



-t-' r- 


r— ^— {S ,. ■—" g • g >~ 




m — t 

This was 

6 


* ■ 3=^— g -4-fc H-t- 

the charter, the char - ter of 

6 6 

"P • P P ^ a f~ 


\r f / t 

the land, And 
4 

-f— fe=^l *— f- 


4 a * 


|=*_fe£3^_L. 


J-^rs'-^P^F 







gels sung this strain: 



^^E 



=1 


Choecs.— Tutti. 
B" • • • [-f 


- ff-f • a ~ r 


1 

5 


| [ 
Rule, 

1 e 


Bri-tan-nia, Bri - tan ■ 

• « — ft * — r -#— 

I - E 7 7 — i T _ t? ; "T~ 


nia rule the waves : 
t IT ■„. p o 


2 
* 


1 1 

Rule, 
Tenure. 


Bri-tan-nia, Bri - tan 

_ — e e s — a — e — |-f— 


-m fc=t= 1 

- nia rule the waves : 

• * ■ ..■__# . M - 


-"-4- 

Rule, 
Basso. 


Bri-tan-nia, Bri - tan 


■ nia rule the waves : 

. p P - P (» F 


■ 

Rule, 


■ — ^ k (e — Lf 

Bri-tan-nia, Bri - tan 

4 

2 


- nia rule the waves: 


,^1_J 


„ ^J — t— 1 


1 [ ^] [^f| 



302 



RULE, BRITANNIA. 



mmm 



SSEf 



Bri 



will 



slaves. 



jig =^=f=f^5=l 



Bri 



t=P= 



ver will 



be slaves. 



|^=Egf^=£=^^i 



Bri 



ver will be slaves. 



-g n rr- 



s 



Bri 



will 



be slaves. 



6 7 7 ^ -^ 6 



i 



2. 

The nations not so blest as thee 

Must in their turn to tyrants fall ; 
While thou shalt flourish, great and free, 
The dread and envy of them all. 

Kule, Britannia, rule the waves : 
Britons never will be slaves. 

3. 

Still more majestic shalt thou rise, 

More dreadful from each foreign stroke ; 
As the loud blast that tears the skies 
Serves but to root thy native oak. 
Rule, Britannia, rule the waves : 
Britons never will be slaves. 



4. 
Thee haughty tyrants ne'er shall tame : 
All their attempts to bend thee down 
Will but arouse thy generous flame, 
But work their woe, and thy renown. 
Rule, Britannia, rule the waves : 
Britons never will be slaves. 



RULE, BRITANNIA, 



303 



To thee belongs the rural reign ; 

Thy cities shall with commerce shine ; 
All thine shall be the subject main ; 
And every shore it circles thine. 

Rule, Britannia, rule the waves : 
Britons never will be slaves. 






6. 

The Muses still with freedom found 

Shall to thy happy coast repair. 
Blest isle ! with matchless beauty crown'd, 
And manly hearts to guard the fair. 
Rule, Britannia, rule the waves : 
Britons never will be slaves. 



RULE, BRITANNIA 



From W. Chappell's 
National English Airs, No. 245, p. 116. 

-I- ^ 






r 

When Bri - tain ~~ first, at heav'n's command, A 



sii^ii 



etzfe 



^e=± 



-J£=t 



^ 



^ 



3= 






from out the a 



^m^^mm^^^j^^ 



33EP. 



304 



RULE, BRITANNIA. 



^ISipppl^S 



t^'-td 



rose, a- rose, a - rose from out the a 



zure main; 









This was the charter, the char - ter of the land 



And 






guar - dian 



gels sung this strain : 



3£gE* 



^^^^^^^^ 



a M '- , j^ W W^t ^- ' V- ^ ! 



Q : 



H 



:8:=tr£r=p: 
^ I ^ 



Rule, 



~F^~ 



^ 



Bri-tau-nia, Bri - tan- nia rules the waves : 



BEE 



3F 



pi^l^s^^^^i 






-ft-J J Aj^jLjl^J -T^U Q 



3±£i=s 



1?' - — I ^J I 

Bri - tons never, never, never will 

P3a- 



f — r 

be slaves. 



^i^^g^sappp 



RULE, BRITANNIA. 



305 



Choeus. 






Rule, Bri-tan-nia, Bri - tan-nia rules the waves 







a o B 5_*___B_» 9 =rp- g *_i_g_g. 



Bri 



tons never, never, never will 




RULE, BRITANNIA. 

(SET BY DB, AENE FOB THE FLUTE.) 



Ritsou's Scotish Songs, vol. ii. p. 126. 



*m*tr-t=i ££&*= &m=5m 



When Bri - tain first, at heav'n's com - mand, A - 



jl-£ 






^ 



. from out the a 



-f-U 



zure mam, 



iprrfc 



i 



0Ti-z^_p— : 



i^^ife 



3, a - rose from out the a - zure main ; 



This was the charter, the char - terof the land, 



And 



306 RULE, BRITANNIA. 



-V-feHF- + »- £ 



_p- , — i — — £~^ 



l 

guar - dian an - gels sung this strain: 

Rule, Bri-tan-nia, Bri - tan - niarules the waves: 

Bri - tons ne - ver will be slaves. 



ft*. 



AN ODE, 

IN THE MASQUE OF ALFRED: 

SUNG BY A SHEPHERDESS WHO HAS LOST HER LOVER IN THE WARS. 



This ode, as already mentioned, did npt really appear in Alfred, 
as published in 1740 ; but was printed in the author's Poems, 1743, 
thus described ; and was introduced in Alfred, as published in 1751.* 

I. 

A youth, adorned with every art, 
To warm and win the coldest heart, 

In secret mine possest : 
The morning hud that fairest blows, 
The vernal oak that strait est grows, 

His face and shape exprest. 



* "Mallet, too, who new wrote the masque of Alfred, which was originally 
the joint composition of himself and Thomson, has enriched his alteration with 
a few songs that might have procured celebrity to any but the author of William 
and Margaret.'" — Ritson. 



308 A YOUTH, ADORN'D. 

II. 

In moving sounds he told his tale, 
Soft as the sighings of the gale 

That wakes the flowery year. 
What wonder he conld charm with ease ! 
Whom happy Nature formed to please, 

Whom Love had made sincere. 



in. 

At morn he left me — fought, and fell ! 
The fatal evening heard his knell, 

And saw the tears I shed : 
Tears that must ever, ever fall ; 
For ah ! no sighs the past recall ; 

No cries awake the dead !* 



The account of the origin of this song given in Stenhouse's 
Lyric Poetry of Scotland, p. 519, is obviously incorrect. — See Notes 
and Queries, vol. xii. pp. 46, 94. 



" Heaven's will be ours. 

And since no grief can yesterday recall, 
Nor change to-morrow's face :" — 

Alfred, 1751, act ii. scene 1. 



—————^-.——^————^—l—M* « 



309 



A YOUTH, ADORN'D, &c. 

BOBB BY HE5. WEIGHTEX, ET THE JIASQCE OF "ALFBED."* 

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SONG. 

(From Alfred, act ii. scene 1.) 



First Shepherdess sings, 
I. 
The shepherd's plain life, 
Without guilt, without strife, 
Can only true blessings impart. 
As Nature directs, 
That bliss he expects 
From health and from quiet of heart, 

ii. 

Vain grandeur and power, 

Those toys of an hour, 
Tho' mortals are toiling to find ; 

Can titles or show 

Contentment bestow ? 
All happiness dwells in the mind. 



316 the shepherd's plain life. 

III. 

Behold the gay rose, 

How lovely it grows, 
Secure in the depth of the vale ! 

Yon oak, that on high 

Aspires to the sky, 
Both lightning and tempest assail. 

IV. 

Then let us the snare 

Of Ambition beware, 
That source of vexation and smart : 

And sport on the glade, 

Or repose in the shade, 
With health and with quiet of heart. 

{Here a pastoral dance. 

This song reminds us of The Praise of a Countryman's Life, by 
John Chalkhill, printed in Walton's Angler, 165-3. 



SONG. 

(From Alfred, act ii. scene 2.) 



The following song is sung by a person unseen. 
I. 

Ye woods and ye mountains unknown. 
Beneath whose pale shadows I stray, 
To the breast of my charmer alone 
These sighs bid sweet echo convey. 
Wherever he pensively leans, 
By fountain, on hill, or in grove, 
His heart will explain what she means, 
Who sings both from sorrow and love.* 



After verse 1 : 

"Corin. 
The evening woodlark warbles in her voice. 
Who can this be ? 

Emma. 
Peace, peace : she sings again." 



318 YE WOODS AND YE MOUNTAINS UNKNOWN. 

II. 

More soft than the nightingale's song, 
O, waft the sad sound to his ear : 
And say, tho ; divided so long, 
The friend of his bosom is near. 
Then tell him what years of delight, 
Then tell him what ages of pain, 
I felt while I liv'd in his sight ! 
I feel till I see him again ! 



319 



YE WOODS AND YE MOUNTAINS UNKNOWN. 

(FOB THE FLUTE.) 

Ritson's Scotish Songs, vol. i. p. 116. 



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SONG. 

(From Alfred, act iii. scene 1.) 



Edith sings. 

i. 

In cooling stream, O sweet repose, 

Those balmy dews distill, 
That steal the mourner from his woes, 

And bid despair be still. 

IT. 

Prolong the smiling infant's rest, 
Who yet no sorrow knows : 

But, O, the parent's bleeding breast 
To softest peace compose ! 

in. 
For her the fairest dreams adorn, 

That wave on fancy's wing ; 
The purple of ascending morn, 

The bloom of opening spring. 



IN COOLING STREAM. * 321 

IV. 

Let all, that soothes the soul or charms, 

Her midnight hour employ ; 
Till blest again, in Alfred's arms, 

She wakes to real joy. 



SONG. 

(From Britannia, scene 3.) 



I. 

Adieu for a while to the town and its trade ; 

Adien to the meadow and rake : 
Our country, my boys, calls aloud for our aid ; 

And shall we that country forsake ! 

n. 

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From hardships or hazards would flinch : 

Let our foes then unite ; we will show them in fight 
What Britons can do at a pinch. 

in. 
A slave may he be, who will not agree 

To join with his neighbours and sing, 
" That the brave and the free — such, Britons, are we — 

Live but for their country and king !" 



323 

ADIEU FOE A WHILE. 
(From the Masque of Britannia, by Dr. Arne. 

SUNG BY MR. WILDER. 



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ADIEU FOR A WHILE. 325 

2. 

It never was known, that true hearts like our own 
From hardships or hazards would flinch : 
Let our foes then unite ; we will show them in fight 
What Britons can do at a pinch. 



A slave may he be, who will not agree 

To join with his neighbours and sing, 

" That the brave and the free— such, BRITONS, are we- 

Live but for their country and king !" 



ADDENDA ET CORRIGENDA. 



Page 8, add to note : " Elizabeth Gow died Nov 2, 1856, aged 87 years; 
and was buried in tbe churchyard of Monzievaird." 

,, 32, line I, for "are" read "is." 

„ 33, after " J. S. Knowles. 1831." add : " Alfred, a Drama, by Sir 
Coutts Lindsay, Bart. 1845." 

,, 35, add as a note: 

"March 18, 1752. David Mallet then entered for his copy, — 
' Letters on the Study and Use of History, by the late 
Eight Hon. Henry St. John Lord Viscount Bolingbroke ; 
to which are added, Two other Letters, and Beflections 
upon Exile. In two volumes.' 
"'May 3, 1753. David Mallet then entered for his copy, — 
' 1. A Letter to Sir William "Windham. 2. Some Eeflec- 
tions on the present State of the Nation. 3. A Letter to 
Mr. Pope by the late Eight Hon. Henry St. John Lord 
Viscount Bolingbroke.' 

{Registers of Stationers' Hall.)" 

„ 44, for " 1758" read " 1757 ;" and add in Note § : "In 1757 Mallet's 
name is No. 9 in the list, being substituted for that of Mrs. 
Sarah Bulcars." 

„ 57, line 11, for " Herk" read " Hick." 

„ 98, line 15, for "Rice, 111 ." read "Eire, 1724." 

„ 219, add as a note : 

" I have recently been informed that there is a tradition that 
Mallet wrote Rdwi7i and Emma at Healaugh Hall, near 
Tadcaster. This tradition is supported by the testimony 
of the late Eev. W. H. Dixon, Canon Eesidentiary of York, 
who visited at Healaugh Hall. Mr. Dixon was nephew of 
the poet Mason." 

„ 279, last line, after " 75" add "137*." 



PRINTED BY LEVEY, ROBSON, AND FRANKLYN, 
Great New Street and Fetter Lane. 










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